A Hidden Past
by hakuchihirolover
Summary: A Harry Potter Crossover, this one is original and it doesn't involve any mysterious relations, merely time vortexes, if I'm giving too much away then read it. Chapter 19 up, sorry it's been so long.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I KNOW I SHOULDN'T BE WRITING ANOTHER STORY WHEN I HAVE ABOUT FIVE HALF FINISHED ONES, BUT THIS IDEA GOT INTO MY HEAD AND JUST WOULDN'T LEAVE UNTIL I WROTE IT DOWN. BUFFY IS A NEW THING FOR ME, SO I HOPE THAT THIS ISN'T TOO BAD AS I HAVE ONLY SEEN A COUPLE OF EPISODES AND READ A FEW OF THE BOOKS.

Hidden Pasts

Chapter One

Professor Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, endlessly going through piles of notes and documents as he searched for information that had yet to become patent. He was searching through an endless back-history of piles of documentation from the department of underage magic. He had been doing this every day since Harry Potter's mysterious disappearance.

The boy had gone back to his Aunt and Uncle's house after his fourth year at Hogwarts and had been keeping in touch with his friends and godfather. Then, on the day of his fifteenth birthday, he had simply vanished from Number Four Privet Drive. After it had become evident that Harry had not been kidnapped or killed by Voldemort, the only possible explanation was that he had run away from the wizarding world.

After research had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Harry was out of England and Europe, the next guess had been that he had gone to America. He had contacted the American Ministry and asked for their documentation of all magic outputs within the last year. After surfing through endless piles of irrelevant notes of levitation spells and zit-covering glamour spells, he was starting to despair of ever finding where the boy had gone.

As he flipped through piles and piles of boring and tedious notes, he finally came to something that looked interesting, if not for their quest to find Harry, then in the war against Voldemort. He checked the readings against some familiar chart of old magic readings. Finding out that it was the thing that he feared, he quickly sent for Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagel. The two soon arrived in his office, Minerva looking nervous and Snape trying to look bored, but secretly looking also as nervous as his rival. Severus spoke first,

"I don't suppose you've found out anything about the whereabouts of the Potter brat. Personally I think that the idiot boy is just doing this for attention."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, he found the stupid animosity Severus had for the son of James Potter highly amusing. Ignoring the aggravated look on Minerva's face, he spoke,

"Unfortunately, I have yet to find any information about Mr Potter's whereabouts. However, I have come across something interesting and highly disturbing in these records."

Both faculty members were instantly on the alert, Minerva asked,

"What is it Albus, do you have any news on you-know-who's whereabouts?"

Dumbledore shook his head,

"Unfortunately I have not discovered that piece of information, but this could be just as important. There has been a recent and highly disturbing magical emission from the town of Sunnydale, California. As you may or may not be aware, Sunnydale is a Hellmouth and therefore we would leave the happenings there to the Watcher's council and the slayer. However, this particular magical emission is one that should be familiar to both of you. I checked the records and it does appear to come from the infamous vampire, Angelus, the scourge of Europe. You have probably have heard of him. He supposedly disappeared one hundred years ago, but this is undeniably him. The spell concerned is indeterminable, but it was extremely powerful. I am concerned that Angelus may have teamed up with Voldemort. Of course, you do understand what that would mean."

The two teachers had paled considerably during this speech and were, for once, in complete agreement with each other.

"Of course, Albus. We must go to Sunnydale as soon as possible."

Albus nodded in agreement,

"Yes, I knew that you would say that, so I took the liberty of contacting the American ministry of magic to inform them that we will be apparating across the ocean to Sunnydale. We should be able to leave immediately if we take a portkey off the school grounds."

The two heads of house rolled their eyes at Albus' characteristic prescience. They then took hold of the empty sherbet lemon packet that had been charmed as a portkey to take them to Hogsmeade. Albus placed his hand on the portkey and activated it. The three disappeared from the office.

Buffy Summers sat in the cool entrance hall of the mansion on Crawford street that Angel had owned when he had been Angelus again. She had told her mum that she would be doing some research at the library with Faith and Giles thought that she was out patrolling with the other slayer. When she had asked Faith to cover for her, the dark-haired slayer had agreed and not asked why, for which Buffy was very grateful. She did not want to explain to everyone that the person who had killed and tortured them all when his demon had returned, whom they thought Buffy had sent to a hell dimension, was back.

She cast a glance up at the window to see how long it would be before Angel was up. The sun was just going through the final stages of setting and it would not be long before the vampire was up. Buffy wanted to talk to him so badly. She didn't even have to talk, she just wanted to be with him and feel his presence again. She had been alone for so long.

She was just about to go and see if Angel was getting up when a knock sounded on the door. She paled about ten shades, when she remembered that if Giles and the gang thought that she was alone with Angel, then they wouldn't knock. It was probably just some people selling stuff or asking if she wanted to join Jehovah's witnesses or some such.

She walked to the large doors and pulled one of them open a crack. What she saw made her mouth drop open and as the slayer she had seen a lot of really strange things. On the stoop stood two men and one woman. This would not seem too extraordinary, as it was no longer the dark ages and the idea of two men alone with a woman was no longer the heresy it used to be. It was the apparel of the three that shocked her.

The woman was wearing a loose black dress of some variety and a pointy black hat. She had a severe face that brought back memories to Buffy of time spent in the offices of various principals over the years. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore small glasses on the bridge of her nose.

The younger man was wearing a similar dress for some reason and there was a black hat one top of his greasy black hair. He shot Buffy a withering glare, but after meeting Angelus, she didn't scare easily.

The older man was perhaps the most eccentric of the group. He wore a red dress of the same style as the other two. He wore no hat, but had long flowing white hair and a beard. His crinkled blue eyes were hidden behind half-moon glasses and there was something about him that made Buffy think of her watcher, Giles.

Buffy fought hard not to laugh as she opened the door wider and stuck her head out,

"Can I help you?"

The three seemed vaguely surprised to see her, as if they had not expected to see a human girl there. The older man spoke though,

"We're here to see Angelus, it is very important that you let us in at once."

Buffy shrugged, she didn't sense any danger from the three and could only presume that they knew something about how Angel had returned from the hell dimension.

"Come in, he's still asleep at the moment, 'cos he needs a lot of rest now. I'll show you somewhere you can sit down and then I'll go wake him up."

The woman spoke in a kindly tone,

"Thank you dear, but are you sure it's safe for you to go and wake him on your own?"

Buffy smiled,

"Angel would never hurt me. He's not going by Angelus any more by the way, and I'd prefer it if you didn't call him that."

The three either accepted this or realised that it was the closest thing to a reassurance that they were likely to get. Buffy led them to a small drawing room with high windows, which wouldn't cast any of the last remnants of daylight onto Angel. She then left the three there and went up to Angel's bedroom.

Severus Snape sat in an armchair in the small room that the girl had led them to. He noticed that there was no light entering the room, so he assumed that she knew that Angelus was a vampire. He had been slightly bemused by her comment that Angel would never hurt her and that Angelus was no longer going by that name. Something about the girl had greatly annoyed him and he disliked her casual manner.

He was just about to comment on the aggravating female when the door swung open. He half rose, suspecting it to be Angelus, but instead it was the annoying blonde. She scowled at him and he sat down again, though he brought his wand out of its holster. She noticed this and her face turned serious.

"Okay, hand over all long pointy wooden objects."

Severus was unwilling to hand over his wand to such an disrespectful woman, but a look from Professor Dumbledore forced him to hand his wand to the petite blonde. She scowled at him and spoke, once she had pocketed all three wands.

"Alright, I have woken up Angel, and he wasn't having any nightmares so you're all in big trouble for disturbing him by the way. He's just getting dressed, so he should be down here soon. He needs to eat as well and I've left him some breakfast, he'll probably eat in his room though. I have to go and fetch some people quickly, but before I go, can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, extra greasy shampoo?"

Severus turned his most fearsome glare on her at this point, but all she did was smirk at him. Professor Dumbledore asked for tea and glared at him until he requested a cup of strong black coffee. These she fetched and then went out of the room again, closing the door behind her as she went.

Rupert Giles sat in the library of Sunnydale High School, doing some research into the experiments that Buffy's new boyfriends friend had carried out. Buffy was out on patrol with Faith, something she seemed to be doing a lot of recently. It wasn't that he was disappointed with her, it was much better for everyone now that the two slayers were friends. It was just that Buffy was always out as soon as she left school and rarely turned up to help with research any more. He knew that she was having difficulty coping with killing Angel, but this was uncharacteristic for her.

He was still pondering the enigma when the doors to the library swung inwards. He, Xander, Oz, Faith, whom apparently had left Buffy to patrol on her own while she came to help, Cordelia and Willow, who had all turned up to help with the research, were on their feet within seconds.

All six of them let out breaths of relief once they saw that it was Buffy who had entered the library. Giles was moving to pull up a chair for the slayer, but the look on her face stopped him. She had obviously run all the way here from wherever she had been before. After a moment, she spoke,

"Please don't ask any questions, you all just need to come with me."

Giles and the others all started to move towards the door. Buffy seemed relieved that they weren't asking what was going on and that was a bad sign to Giles, particularly considering her recent interest in the possibility of Angel returning from the hell dimension where Acathla had sent him. The English watcher sincerely hoped that this was not the case, as he knew Buffy still had feelings for the vampire, but it would be difficult for the others to ever accept Angel again, even if he really was re-souled.

All his hopes of this being a normal emergency were dashed when they were in Oz's van and he asked Buffy where they were to go. Buffy glanced around her for a minute before she replied,

"That house on Crawford Street that Angelus used to summon Acathla."

He hoped that Buffy had not thought up some half-baked plan to rescue Angel from the hell dimension, as he would hate to see the hurt on her face if they refused to help her. The journey took place mostly in silence, though Buffy seemed very anxious that they got there quickly.

When they arrived, Buffy practically jumped from the van before it had even stopped moving. To Giles' astonishment and horror, lights were on in the mansion and it seemed to have been frequently visited. He turned a disappointed gaze onto his slayer, who promptly ignored it. She hurried them all inside and quickly up several flights of stairs until she reached a closed door. As she turned the handle, Giles steeled himself for what might be inside.

It was nothing like he suspected. Giles had of course heard of the wizarding world, but he would have never suspected to see Albus Dumbledore and two other members of this world sitting calmly in a house belonging to Angelus, drinking tea. When Buffy ushered the six of them inside, the younger male looked up and scowled belligerently at Buffy, proof that he didn't know that she was the slayer. When he spoke his voice was honeyed with malice,

"Girl, where is he?"

Giles winced when the stranger called Buffy 'girl' but fortunately, Buffy remained in control of her temper as she replied,

"I think he probably went for a shower before he got dressed."

As she said this, Giles sincerely hoped that the 'he' Buffy was referring to was not Angelus, but it was getting less and less likely by the minute. For a time they sat in silence, then Buffy smiled and rose from where she sat and went to open the door.

What Giles saw there had been in his nightmares for weeks. It was Angelus, dressed in black leather trousers, a black turtleneck and a black leather duster. He had just had a shower and there was a slight tint to his skin that indicated that he had recently fed. He glanced around the room, his gaze resting for the longest on the three strangers, not the six of them as Giles had thought it would. Buffy smiled at him as he entered at gestured for him to take a seat. After he had ensconced himself in a chair in a corner of the room. The other four of them who knew Angel stared at him in shock, but managed to refrain from saying anything. Then Angel spoke,

"Giles, Oz, Xander, Cordelia, Willow, it's very good to see you again. It's been far too long. Professor Dumbledore, I take it this is not a social visit?"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

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AN: I DON'T OWN IT

Chapter Two

There was a still moment of complete silence in the small room as the three strangers, Giles and the gang and Buffy and Angel stared at each other. There was a small but genuine smile flitting across Angel's lips as he stared at the three Hogwarts professors. Only Buffy could see the hope and joy that sparkled in Angel's normally very guarded eyes.

Giles could only stare aghast at the man with the same face as the monster that had killed the woman he loved. He had tried to tell himself that it had been Angelus and not Angel that had killed Jenny and that the technopagan had actually only come to Sunnydale to make sure that Angel never stopped suffering. But was still very difficult for him to look into the same eyes that had glittered with malicious pleasure as Angelus had tortured him.

Giles had heard of Albus Dumbledore, there were very few who hadn't but he had never been this close to the man and certainly not in this exclusive company. He contained the urge to ask the venerable wizard one hundred and two questions about his experience, but restrained himself to wondering how Angel was acquainted with the man.

Giles chanced a glance at Buffy and Angel. The two sat very close, almost touching but not quite. Every so often one would catch himself looking at the other and would then look in the other direction. Giles felt a wave of pity sweep through him at that moment. The two couldn't be any more in love, that was obvious, but it seemed that their relationship was constantly under threat.

Their very existences were contradictory, a vampire with a soul and a slayer who lived with her mom. The two had been very close, right from the beginning. The two had always respected each other and it had only been a matter of time before that respect and affection grew into the kind of love poets wrote sonnets about. The two had consummated their love together on the night of Buffy's seventeenth birthday, a move which had caused terrible things to happen, yet Giles knew that Buffy had not been sad to lose her virginity to Angel, even if he had turned evil afterwards. Buffy had then been forced to kill her lover and send him to hell. The two were now reunited again but could never demonstrate the physical extent of their love for each other again.

The silence hung uncomfortably in the room for quite a time after Angel's confusing statement. Then, Buffy spoke,

"You know these people, Angel?"

Angel smiled wryly,

"Buff' I'm over two-hundred and fifty- years old. I know someone everywhere."

Buffy smiled slightly at this comment, but Giles was surprised, for neither Angel or Angelus had ever given any indication of knowing Albus Dumbledore, but then Angel didn't like to talk about his past and Angelus had never really been in a sharing mood when they had met. Angelus had always been more of a 'I'm going to torture and kill you' person, rather than a 'let's have a chat over tea and cookies' person.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise that Angel knew them. When one had lived for two hundred years and had a reputation like Angelus', then one would catch the attention of the wizarding community.

After a time, Angel spoke, his upbringing as a nobleman showing through slightly,

"It appears that I have been remiss. I should have made the introductions. Giles, Buffy, Xander, Oz, Cordelia, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards. He's also the head of the Wizengamot and has a chocolate frogs card."

Albus Dumbledore smiled slightly,

"Actually, I'm no longer on the Wizengamot, but I don't mind as long as they still keep my chocolate frogs card."

Angel smiled slightly then scowled,

"Do you mean that that idiot Fudge still doesn't believe that Voldemort is back?"

Dumbledore nodded sadly,

"Unfortunately, Cornelius refuses to believe me when I say that Lord Voldemort has returned."

Angel scowled,

"Moronic, no-good, pathetic, blind idiot."

Snape smirked, obviously agreeing with Angel's description of the minister of magic. Angel then remembered to continue the introductions that had been interrupted by his vendetta on the personality of Cornelius Fudge.

"The two with professor Dumbledore are Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, Transfigurations professor and house-mistress of Gryffindor, which happens to be the best house at Hogwarts. The other one is Severus Snape, potions professor and house-master of Slytherin house, that description explains just about everything. Professors, this is Rupert Giles, Alexander Harris, Cordelia Chase, Daniel Osbourne, Willow Rosenburg, Buffy Summers and Faith. I presume that this isn't a social call."

Dumbledore shook his head,

"Unfortunately not, we have been searching for a missing student and were searching through documents on magical emissions and discovered that you were still around. We have come to dissuade you from joining Voldemort, if you do not agree we will be forced to take precautions to make sure that you do not become a threat."

Angel made a face.

"Damn it, I knew that there would be too much magic given off from that spell, even for a hellmouth. I should have known that you would come here. This is rather unfortunate."

Giles stared at the vampire for a moment before speaking,

"What spell could possibly be that powerful?"

Angel winced slightly before he answered,

"Inter-dimensional apparation."

All three professors stared at Angel, slightly scared of the amount of power that would be required to perform that spell, the idea of this vampire joining Voldemort was becoming even more terrifying by the minute. After a moment, Minerva spoke,

"Why would you require to do that?"

Angel winced,

"I was in a demon dimension and it took me some time to get far enough from the fiery centre to apparate."

The three stared at him in shock and Buffy fought not to let out a sob. There could be no worse punishment than being sent to an eternity of fiery torture. After a moment of silence Angel spoke again,

"Professor, you do not have to worry about me joining forces with Voldemort, there is no possible situation in which I would work with Tom."

Albus Dumbledore was, on a very rare occasion, speechless.

"How do you know Voldemort's real name?"

Angel smiled, but there was a definite edge to the smile,

"Professor, you once told me that the truth us a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."

Dumbledore stared at Angel for a long moment, then spoke softly,

"Harry?"

Angel smiled,

"I said it was good to see you again professor."

There was absolute silence in the room, so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing. After a moment, however, Dumbledore regained his wits and asked in a cold voice,

"How do we know you're Harry Potter and not just someone pretending?"

Angel rose gracefully from the chair and moved swiftly to a cupboard. He opened the doors and then removed a secret panel. From behind this panel he extracted a large and heavy looking trunk with the words 'Harry J Potter' written on it in faded steel letters. The trunk seemed very, very old. Angel opened the trunk and moved aside a few objects before extracting a short wooden stick. It didn't seem very special to the seven Sunnydale inhabitants, but Minerva and Albus gasped. Angel then raised the stick to his forehead and muttered something in Latin.

A shaft of white light came form the end of the stick and hit Angel on the forehead. Buffy was instantly on the alert for anything that was dangerous, but Angel merely placed the stick up is sleeve and sat down. He leant towards the three professors and pulled away his hair from his forehead. All three gasped in astonishment. There, on the unnaturally pale flesh, was a jagged scar shaped like a bolt of lightening.

"Professor, there are some scars that two-hundred and fifty years of vampirism can't hide."

All three of the strange visitors stared at Angel with indefinable emotion on their faces. Giles had lost what was happening a long time ago, but he knew that, whatever it was, it was very important. A genuine and honest smile was twisting the corners of Angel's mouth. Giles had never seen him looking that happy, but Buffy had, and although she knew as much as her watcher, maybe less, about the situation, she was happy that there was someone who could make Angel smile like that. Buffy reached out with one hand to trace the scar marring Angel's otherwise perfect face, and the two sat frozen in tableau. Buffy's hand traced the scarlet line and then rose to stroke a lock of Angel's hair back from his forehead. The moment was a close to perfection as Buffy had known since her seventeenth birthday. Then, Xander spoke,

"Okay, someone explain. Dead-boy, why are you here and what happened to 'Mr. Wearing leather trousers and being a dick'? Who are the dudes in the dresses and why are they calling you Harry? And how on earth do you have a scar?"

Angel winced when Xander mention Angelus and his recent stint in a hell dimension. Buffy scowled at the boy and Willow hit him for being an insensitive bastard. Buffy rose slightly to give Xander a piece of her mind and make him stop being an idiot, but Angel placed a hand on her arm.

"It's okay Buff', I owe them and you an explanation."

Buffy smiled at her lover,

"I know, but that doesn't give Xander an excuse."

Angel smiled remorsefully,

"You know I deserve it."

It was a statement, not a question. Buffy scowled gently into Angel's dark eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you are not responsible for what Angelus did?"

Angel tried to smile reassuringly but failed miserably,

"Buff' it was my fault. I brought him back and 'cos the last thing I thought of before that was you, I concentrated his thoughts on you. If it weren't for me then none of the people that I killed would be dead."

Buffy was not amused,

"Angel, shut up. You know perfectly well that you weren't the one who was responsible for what happened that night. You were willing to wait, but I wanted to go ahead without thinking of the consequences. Personally I'm flattered that I was the thing that you were thinking of while your soul was leaving your body and this is Sunnydale, many of the people that Angelus killed, would be dead anyway. There's plenty of blame to go around and I would personally leave a lot of it at Darla's door and I have to take my fair share of it as well. Don't even try to blame yourself entirely for this. Understand?"

Angel still looked upset, but Buffy scowled at him and he nodded his head slightly.

"I'm sorry, Buff', but I do feel guilty."

Buffy smiled at him, a smile that was heartfelt but tinged with sorrow,

"I know, that's what makes you so different from Angelus."

Angel smiled at her and spoke softly,

"Thank you."

The two seemed completely oblivious to the world around them, they merely sat there, with their hands clasped, staring into each other's eyes. Giles felt a great sorrow flood through him at that moment. It was obvious that the two were just as much in love as ever they had been and they both knew that there was no way they could ever express the extent of their love for the other.

Xander was not amused. He had thought that Angel was at last gone and Buffy was over him. It turned out that not only was Angel as undead as ever, but he was back with them and the key of a new mystery. It also seemed that the dark-haired vampire had also managed to worm his way back into Buffy's affections.

It wasn't jealousy that made him angry. Although there would always be a part of him that loved the dainty slayer more than anything in the world, he now knew that he and Buffy would have never stood a chance together. He was happy with Cordelia and their relationship was gradually becoming more than he ever thought it could be. No, it was not jealousy that motivated his anger. He loved Buffy as a sister and the idea of Angel hurting her was anathema to him. Before he would have accepted that Angel was just as besotted with Buffy as she was with him, but since Angel had become Angelus again, the threat of him hurting Buffy was suddenly a lot more present.

He was also very confused. Xander didn't like being confused, particularly not in situations that were potentially dangerous as this one was. The three strangers were just that, strange and there was something not right about the whole situation. It was obvious that there was a potential for something to go very wrong, very quickly and Xander was not comfortable with this.

He knew that Buffy had been in much worse situations than fighting against an old man, an elderly woman and a man with serious hygiene problems, but there was something about these three that had set off all the alarms in his system. Before meeting Buffy, he would have just written it off as paranoia and too much caffeine, however, since he had met vampires and demons, he knew that danger could come in very misguiding packages. Also, his nose for danger had been a lot more sensitive since the incident with the Halloween costumes, where he became a soldier. No, something about these three just wasn't right.

Maybe he was simply paranoid, but Xander would not be satisfied until he knew exactly what was going on and how Angel was involved.

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

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AN: I DON'T OWN IT AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT TOLKIEN IS GOD AND THE THIRD MOVIE IS BRILLIANT. THIS WILL BE MY LAST UPDATE FOR A WHILE BECAUSE I AM GOING TO MONACO FOR A WEEK WITHOUT ANY INTERNET OR COMPUTERS WHATSOEVER.

Chapter 3

Severus Snape was not happy. This was not a strange occurrence, for he was stuck spending his days teaching mindless imbeciles potions, most of them failing to even begin to grasp the beauty of the subject. But today, the professor was especially annoyed. Ever since the Potter brat had disappeared at the end of July, the whole of Hogwarts and some of the ministry had been in uproar trying to find the aggravating idiot.

He had been forced into spending his summer looking for the idiotic boy, time he could've spent making potions. Then Albus had found a lead that suggested the reappearance of an infamous and brutal vampire. He had then been forced to come to California, where the most muggle of all muggles lived. As if this was not bad enough, he had arrived in California to find out that the vampire Angelus was in fact Harry Potter.

To make things even worse, there was the annoying blonde who sat by Angelus. Severus Snape had not worked for the most evil dark lord in living memory without knowing how to identify a vampire when he saw one. However, this aggravating female was not a vampire, yet she seemed to be very intimate with the dark vampire.

The other six were also unusual, even if it were just for some their knowledge and acceptance of the existence of vampires.

The red-haired female who looked too much like Lily Potter seemed to be very unusual. There was an aura of magic around her, but it was not that which he was used to.

The boy sitting next to her with died hair seemed to be normal, if typically muggle. But Severus had gone to school with Remus Lupin and knew enough about werewolves to be able to identify one when he saw him.

The dark haired female was slouched on a sofa in what seemed to a man who had spent his entire life wearing high-necked robes to be extremely indecent clothes. She seemed to be relaxed, but Snape knew enough about war to be able to tell when a person was only pretending to be relaxed. There was something strange about this one, something that Snape had also seen in the blond girl.

The dark haired boy and the dark female seemed to be perfectly ordinary, but they were too unconcerned in the presence of a vampire to be dismissed easily. They seemed to be muggles, but they knew too much.

There was something familiar about the older man. He seemed to be very wise, but there was something in his eyes that spoke of great sadness and, if you looked deeper, a hard and embittered past.

Snape turned his gaze back to where the Potter brat sat with the blonde female. He scowled, but he didn't say what he truly thought of the boy, as he wasn't stupid enough to mess with someone who was infamous for his terrible and violent acts over two hundred years. Instead, he tried to control his voice as he spoke,

"Potter, what are you doing here?"

He used the voice that usually turned students into piles of quivering fear on the floor, but the aggravating boy merely smiled and said,

"That, professor, is a very long story indeed."

He scowled,

"Idiot boy, tell us now."

The seven strangers stared in shock and horror at him. He supposed that no one had ever called Angelus an idiot boy before in front of them. However, the vampire merely smiled again and turned to professor Dumbledore.

"Professor, what I have to tell you is not that long a story, but I owe Buffy and the others a much longer explanation. If you would be so kind as to wait for your explanation while I gave theirs to them, things would be much easier."

It was obvious that Dumbledore was just as curious as Snape, but he nodded.

"Of course, Harry. Feel free to tell your friends everything."

Angelus started slightly then smiled,

"I haven't been called that in a long, long time."

Xander scowled,

"Dead-boy, this is very interesting, but you said something about an explanation."

Angelus winced,

"Harris, what have I told you about calling me that?"

Xander snorted and Willow elbowed him in the ribs out of habit, Angelus began his explanation.

"As you know, I was turned two-hundred and fifty years ago by Darla. This was when I was twenty-two. You all know what happened after then, but my life before then was even more complex. I was born in the year 1980 to a couple called Lily and James Potter. They were killed on Halloween the year after I was born, by an evil wizard called Lord Voldemort. Voldemort tried and failed to kill me, in an attempt that almost cost him his life. I was left with only this scar, while Voldemort vanished, a shadow of his former self, barely alive. I was then sent to live with my aunt and uncle and until my eleventh birthday I knew nothing of my wizarding heritage. On my eleventh birthday I found out the truth of my heritage and received my acceptance letter to Hogwarts. To cut what is a exceedingly long story very short, at the end of my fourth year, Voldemort returned to life. This was at the end of June this year. I was at that time, fourteen years old. On July 31st, my fifteenth birthday, a time vortex was accidentally opened in my bedroom. I was sent into the past, to seven years before I was turned. I was adopted by my father and became Liam O'Connor. It would be fatally damaging to the space-time continuum if I had contacted the wizarding world at any time before my disappearance this year, and then I was delayed and unable to return."

All of the other ten people in the room stared in shock at Angel. Then, Buffy spoke,

"So, technically, I'm older than you, right?"

Angel smiled slightly and nodded, Buffy smiled back at him for a moment, then winced,

"That means, you were, like, fourteen this January."

Angel nodded again,

"Eeew, I'm, like, a cradle snatcher or something."

Willow stared at the two of them and spoke,

"So, Buffy's actually the older one in your relationship?"

Buffy scowled,

"Does this mean I have to pay now?"

Angel smiled down at her,

"No, Buff', I may have been born in 1980, but that doesn't erase the two-hundred and fifty years of my unlife."

"Oh!"

Dumbledore smiled benevolently at the couple, glad that Harry had found a degree of love and happiness in his life. But there were still important questions to ask.

"You were reputed to have disappeared some one hundred years ago, did you spend all this time in this hell dimension you speak of?"

Angel shook his head,

"No, I went there in early June, but Angelus did disappear at the end of the nineteenth century. There was an unfortunate incident involving a clan of gypsies and my soul was returned to me as a punishment. Angelus had a reawakening recently, but he will not be returning in any of the near future."

This answer seemed to make sense to Professor Dumbledore, to Angel's great relief as he didn't want to have to talk of his escapades over the last two and a half centuries. Dumbledore had other questions to ask now though,

"Will you be returning back to England with us?"

Angel winced and though for a moment,

"I must return to face him, mustn't I?"

Dumbledore nodded, but Buffy turned to Angel,

"You're leaving me? But you've only just come back."

Angel nodded sadly,

"I don't have a choice, Buff'. I have to face him."

Buffy seemed on the verge of tears,

"Can I come with you?"

Angel glanced at Professor Dumbledore, who glanced at Buffy,

"You are not a witch. But there is something unusual about you."

Buffy smirked slightly,

"I'm the Slayer."

Faith glared at her and Buffy repaired the statement,

"Well, I'm one of two slayers."

Faith nodded in approval, but all three of the Hogwarts staff stared, after a time, Dumbledore asked the question that was on all of their lips,

"How can there be more than one slayer?"

Buffy and Faith smiled at each other and Buffy spoke,

"Well, I died for a minute, then Xander brought me back. But, while I was dead, Kendra was called, then Kendra died and Faith was called. Therefore we have two slayers instead of just the one."

Snape stared at the girl for a long time. This petite and delicate child was the vaunted slayer that all wizards had heard so much about. The girl, Buffy, spoke,

"So, can I come with?"

Albus seemed startled,

"Of course, you will be very welcome. Might I ask if you would do me a favour."

Buffy seemed startled, but she nodded,

"Sure, what do you want me to do?"

Albus smiled,

"Well, we were having difficulties in locating an appropriate Defence Teacher for this year, is you would agree to come and teach at Hogwarts, I would be most thankful. You would, of course, be paid the usual sum for any teaching position at Hogwarts and would receive room and board."

Buffy stared at Dumbledore for a long time, while Snape fumed that the job he had wanted for so long had been given to some slip of an American muggle girl. Then the Slayer spoke,

"So, I'd be, like, teaching Angel?"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, while Buffy considered this,

"So, I'd be able to give detentions and stuff?"

Dumbledore nodded again and Buffy smiled,

"This is sounding definitely promising. It would be a contract for just the one year right?"

Dumbledore nodded,

"We have been having difficulty keeping a defence teacher for any longer than the one year, but if you wished to stay afterwards, you would be very welcome."

Buffy smiled suddenly,

"Sounds great. I'll come and teach for you if you want."

Giles, coughed slightly,

"I do approve of your aims Buffy, but you need to stay here."

Buffy nodded slightly,

"I know Giles, but the council has two slayers now. Faith will be fine by her self."

Faith was unable to help herself, she blushed slightly with pleasure. She was confident in her skills as a slayer, but Buffy was the original slayer. If Buffy hadn't died for a few minutes, then Faith wouldn't be a slayer. Faith sometimes felt that she was a mistake, that Buffy was the only real slayer, hearing Buffy's faith in her was very pleasing to say the least. She didn't trust Angel in the slightest, particularly not after what she had heard about Angelus' exploits, but if Buffy trusted him, then Faith was willing to give him a chance. The silence was interrupted by Willow's voice,

"Well, Principal Snyder will be overjoyed."

Buffy smiled,

"Well, he's definitely one person I won't miss."

Willow nodded, then winced,

"Buffy, what are you going to tell Scott?"

Buffy flinched as well,

"Fuck, I'd forgotten about Scott."

Angel looked annoyed and asked, trying to sound merely politely curious and failing miserably,

"Who's this Scott?"

Buffy winced,

"Yes, well, we need to talk about that…"

Angel smiled sadly,

"Well, you deserve someone who can make you happy."

Buffy lifted her hand up to caress Angel's cold cheek.

"Angel. I love **you**, not anyone else. I don't care if we can never be together in that way again. All that matters is that you're okay. I missed you every day. Scott was just me trying to get over it. But I could never love anyone like I love you."

There were tears in Buffy's eyes as she said this and Angel lowered one hand to dry them away and brush Buffy's hair out of her eyes. They sat there like that for a long time, before Buffy asked him in a soft voice,

"Angel, would there be any way, in your world, of finding a way to make your soul permanent?"

Angel gazed down at her in amazement.

"I hadn't thought of that, Buff'. But there would probably be some book in the library that could help with that."

Buffy smiled up at her lover,

"Well, now we definitely have to go."

Willow finally understood the connotations of what Angel was saying,

"You mean, that you might be able to find a way so that the two of you could be together?"

Angel nodded,

"It's a definite possibility. Buff' there's something I want to ask you…"

Buffy cut him off before he could finish what he was going to say,

"Angel, I'm going out on patrol, come with me, ask me when we're alone."

Angel smiled,

"That would be lovely Buff', I've missed going on patrol with you."

Then he turned to the three Hogwarts professors,

"I'm sure Buffy will have some things she needs to sort out before she can leave, so we'll leave tomorrow evening, just after sunset. I'll be here with Buffy and any of the others who want to come with us, which they are welcome to do if they wish."

This last part was directed at the other six who exchanged glances with each other. After he had said this, Angel rose from his seat and, offering his hand to Buffy, left the room.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

****

AN: THIS IS JUST ADDICTIVE. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS. IT'S THE ONLY TIME WHEN I CAN SPEND ALL DAY LYING ON MY BED EATING PIZZA STRAIT FROM THE TAKE-OUT BOX, WATCHING MOVIES, EATING ICE CREAM AND WRITING FANFICTION WITHOUT GETTING TOLD TO MIND MY DIETRY HABITS. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING YOU RECOGNISE WITHIN.

Chapter 4

Once Angel and Buffy had left the mansion on Crawford Street, they went to Buffy's house. Buffy pulled a set of keys from her pocket and opened the door. She went inside then turned to where her lover stood,

"You can come in, Angel. You'll always be welcome here."

Angel smiled at her and followed her into the house. They quickly climbed the stairs to Buffy's room and went inside. Once they were both in the room, Buffy closed the door and went over to her closet. She pulled out the false bottom from the chest she kept hidden there and removed some stakes and a few bottles of holy water.

She laid these items on her bed and then went to find the black leather jacket Angel had given her not long after she had first come to Sunnydale and stopped the Harvest. While she did this, Angel looked around the room. It had not changed much since when he had been here as Angelus. It was then that he noticed the pile of sheets on one side. He went over to them and would have gasped if he had needed to breathe. It was every single drawing of her or her mother that he had made as Angelus. He turned to see Buffy looking at him,

"Why did you keep these?"

Buffy smiled sadly,

"They were all I had left of you, those and the ring. I thought I'd lost you forever. It was slightly reassuring to me to know that Angelus was here and didn't hurt me. It gave me the hope that maybe, maybe, there was still a part of you in Angelus, a part that cared about me."

Tears rolled down Buffy's cheeks, and Angel cursed himself as a hundred times a fool for having ever hurt her. He gently brought one hand up to dry the tears from her cheeks. He was pulling his hand away from her cheek when she pressed her hand against it and looked up at him. He almost could have drowned in those beautiful green pools. It was perfectly natural for them both as Buffy stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth against his.

They both sated themselves on the feeling of each other for a long time, exploring what they had so long been separated from. The kiss was a true reflection of the love they felt for each other. It was passionate, yet deeply respectful of the other. There was so much love and so much passion in that kiss. Buffy's arms came up to twine around Angel's neck and his wrapped tightly around her slender waist. Buffy's hands were just reaching to pull Angel's turtleneck over his head when she remembered where they were and the consequences of what they were doing.

The two pulled away from each other as they had been electrocuted. They jumped back to opposite corners of the room, where the stood, panting with passion. After a moment, Buffy walked quickly back to the centre of the room and gathered her things form her bed. She stuffed a stake in each pocket and placed her holy water in her bag. She pulled on her leather duster and shrugged the bag over one shoulder.

She stalked to the door, tension showing in her every movement. When her hand was on the handle, she turned back to Angel,

"Well, are you coming or not?"

She swung the door open and walked out, not even turning to see if Angel even followed her. He, of course, did. When the two walked past Joyce's room, Buffy stuck her head through the door and yelled,

"Mom, I'm going on patrol. I'll be back sometime before dawn."

Without waiting for an answer, she swung the door closed and stalked down the stairs. Angel shrugged and followed after her.

Unfortunately, there were very few vampires out that evening. Buffy had staked two and beheaded another, but was still unusually tense. She and Angel were currently sitting on a wall in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries, watching to see if any fledglings rose that evening. As yet, none had and this was the last cemetery on their circuit. The chances of Buffy being able to work off any of the excess tension that evening were diminishing by the minute.

Buffy picked a pebble from the sidewalk and threw it. She accidentally forgot to monitor her strength, and the stone went flying. After some time, Buffy scowled and turned to Angel,

"This is pointless, absolutely nothing is happening. Let's go to Willie's or something."

Angel smiled at her,

"How do I get the feeling that you really want to either kill or terrify someone?"

Buffy smiled back at him,

"Yeah, well, I have a lot of excess tension at the moment."

The two were just about to go to Willie's, when Angel spoke,

"Buffy, I was wondering if you would wear this again."

Angel had proffered his hand and Buffy saw that he was holding her Claddagh ring. She felt tears start to rise in her eyes, and tried to suppress them as she took the ring from Angel. She placed it on her finger and made sure that the heart was pointing towards her. She spoke then,

"I'm sorry I ever took it off, but I thought that I'd lost you for ever and I knew that if you weren't going to come back I had to try and live again."

Angel nodded at her,

"And that's fine Buffy, and it was the right thing to do. You don't have to come with me now, you deserve someone better than me."

Buffy placed her hand over his mouth before he could continue saying anything else.

"How many times do I have to say this, I love you?"

Angel smiled,

"I know, but after everything I did…"

Buffy shook her head,

"What Angelus did was not your fault, now let's go to Willie's and intimidate as many people as possible."

Angel nodded,

"Okay, but your buying."

Buffy smiled and the two swung down from the low wall and headed towards Willie's.

Willie's Alibi was the perfect place for demons and vampires wanting to avoid trouble, or anyone who wanted somewhere safe to go. There was an unwritten code that nobody killed anyone else whilst in Willie's. Despite this fact, the proprietor, Willy, was still terrified of the slayer. He was also terrified of Angel. Or rather, he was terrified of Angel, but since the return of Angelus that had been upgraded to petrified.

Willy had justifiable reason to be scared of them, everyone in the demon community was scared of the slayer and Angelus had a terrifying reputation for brutality, which had been proved as more than elaborate fiction. Angel had scared Willy too, despite his soul, and almost every time that Buffy entered the Alibi, Willy got beaten on. Most, if not all of the patrons of the Alibi were petrified of the two, if not of both than of one of them.

Taking these things into consideration, it was no surprise that there were more than a few frightened moans as the notorious duo entered the sleazy establishment. Willy himself turned a most unattractive shade of puce, and Angel realised that the man had not seen him since he was Angelus and the common consensus was that he still was.

As Buffy and Angel approached the bar, Angel could smell the fear in the crowd, much of it coming from Willy himself. The bartender's pudgy hands were trembling as he attempted to nonchalantly wipe down a beer mug that Angel smelled had contained blood, not beer. The smile on Willy's face was very fixed and fake. The demon in Angel revelled in the abject terror that he inspired and Angel found he was craving the smell of fear once again.

Angel took a deep but unnecessary breath and squashed his demonic instincts back into the cage at the back of his mind where he kept them locked. A vampire sat in a corner nursing a mug of human blood that Willy 'acquired' from a blood bank somewhere. Angel's skin itched with the urge to show his true demonic visage. He must have growled softly, because Buffy squeezed his arm comfortingly.

Buffy walked straight up to where Willy stood at the bar. She casually removed a knife he hadn't seen her take and placed it point down in the bar. She leant forward and, smiling a deadly smile, spoke to Willy,

"It's really horrible to see you again. Angel will have whatever is freshest and I will have a diet coke. Oh, and I had an awful summer and a worse day so it was really nice of you to say we didn't have to pay tonight."

As she said this last part, Buffy casually removed the knife from where it had been wedged into the tabletop and admired it. Willy opened his mouth to object, but wisely closed it when he saw the nigh on homicidal look on the Slayer's face.

Once Willy had supplied the two of them with Angel's blood and Buffy's coke, they moved over to a booth in a dark corner. After they had sat down, the conversation in the bar resumed, if at a slightly muted level. As Angel took the first sip of the warm blood, which had been poured into a large beer mug, an ecstatic look came onto his face. Buffy merely sipped at her diet coke and waited until Angel had finished drinking. When he had, she placed her glass on the table top and looked at her lover,

"Angel, I wanted to come here tonight because I wanted us to be able to talk without being interrupted by any of my friends."

Angel would have paled, if that were possible, but he settled for looking nervous instead. He opened his mouth to speak, but Buffy interrupted him,

"Not about Angelus. I want to talk to you about these wizards. Was I sensible to accept this Dumbledore's job offer?"

Angel nodded slightly,

"Yes, definitely. I trust Albus Dumbledore with my life. We can arrange for you to take your SATs in England if you want to do that. It would also be good for you to assist in the fight against Voldemort."

Buffy stared at him,

"You have a dark lord called Moldywarts?"

Angel smiled slightly and Buffy's heart skipped a beat,

"No, not Moldywarts, Voldemort. He and his Death Eaters…"

Buffy cut him off,

"Voldemort? Death Eaters? And here I thought the Master and the Three were cheesy, those names officially take the whole fucking biscuit barrel."

Angel rolled his eyes slightly at Buffy's comment. After a moment, the slayer spoke,

"So, I'll tell my mum and the evil Snyder monster tomorrow morning. Then I will pack and meet up with you at the mansion at six-ish?"

Angel nodded and Buffy leant forward over the table,

"So, did you do anything exciting at this school of yours?"

Angel smiled fully then, Buffy was certain that she would remember that smile for the rest of her life.

"Well, I did blow up my Aunt once…."

tbc.


	5. Chapter 5

****

AN: FIFTH CHAPTER UP NOW, AND I KNOW THAT THE TIMELINES ARE A LITTLE OUT OF PATTERN, BUT IT WORKED BETTER FOR ME THIS WAY. SPOILERS FOR ANYTHING UP TO EPISODE FOUR OF SERIES THREE, FROM THERE IT SEPERATES ALMOST ENTIRELY FROM THE CANONIC UNIVERSE. OH, AND MY NAME'S LUCY, NOT JOSS OR JOANNE, NOTHING YOU RECOGNISE BELONGS TO ME.

PAIRINGS: Buffy/ANGEL Xander/CORDELIA WILLOW/OZ GILES/TONKS Ron/Hermione

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER ON

Chapter 5

_Buffy walked out of the Sunnydale Mall into the bright summer sunshine. Her blond hair shone like spun gold in the warm light. She walked through the park enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. She approached a small fountain in the centre of a bright clearing. A figure dressed all in black stood against the fountain. His back was turned and Buffy fought to control the joy that sprung up inside her chest at the sight of his dark brown hair and black leather duster._

The figure turned to face her. It was Angel. The midday light shone on hid unnaturally pale skin a sparkled in his dark hair. He held out a hand for her. She ran towards him. They wrapped their arms around each other and Buffy buried her head in Angel's broad chest. Then she heard it, the steady thump of his heart. It was the most beautiful sound that she had every heard. She stood on tiptoes and arched her lips up to kiss him. Then, a bell rang, loudly and noisily….

Buffy brought one hand down on her alarm clock to end the shrill beeping that had roused her from her dream about Angel. It was just getting to the good part too, she swore softly as she heard the crunch that signalled another smashed alarm clock. That was the second one this week as well. She knew that it was easier to explain to her mother about the broken alarm clocks since Joyce Summers had found out about the whole slayage thing, but her mother had made her views on the subject perfectly clear. As far as Joyce was concerned, slaying was the worst thing that had ever happened to her daughter and was probably a punishment for the tube of lipstick that Buffy had shoplifted from Macy's in junior high.

Buffy sighed as she remembered the days before she was the slayer. Even though it had seemed so difficult to keep on top of fashion, Buffy reflected on how simple her life had been then. The worst thing that could happen to her then was if someone turned up at school wearing the same clothes as her. Then she had met her first watcher, Merrick. Now, she spent her nights out slaying vampires and other demons from hell. Her most important concern was staying alive long enough to stop the next apocalypse.

Not that she always was alive. She had died once. The master had drained her of almost all her blood and then thrown her face down into a pool of water. She had drowned. Not much later, Xander and Angel had found her and Xander had used barely remembered CPR skills to bring her back to life. The master had died by her hand that night. She tried not to think about those minutes of her life when she hadn't been alive. She could not remember what it was like when she was dead. She sometimes wondered whether being a slayer gave you a ticket into heaven or a one-way pass into hell.

After she had been kicked out of Hemery high in Los Angeles, she and her mom had moved to Sunnydale. She had thought that she would be able to forget about being the slayer. She had been wrong. It was her 'destiny' to be the 'chosen one'. Of course, living on an active Hellmouth never really helped with the whole normal life thing. Sometimes she used to wish that she had never been the slayer. Now she wasn't so sure. Slaying had brought Angel to her. She remembered what he had told her about last night, about the demon from the powers that be that had shown her to Angel.

FLASHBACK

Buffy looked Angel straight in the eye and asked him,

"What did Whistler tell you that made you come here."

Buffy was annoyed, not at Angel, but at Whistler and whomever it was that he worked for. They were always interfering with their lives and it disturbed Buffy. Angel sighed and began to tell her the story.

Taken from Angel: city of, novelisation of the series premier by Nancy Holder

Manhattan 1996

A rat a month, that's all Angel ate. He was crazed with hunger and isolation, and he didn't even know it.

Then Whistler had shown, in his cheesy bowling shirts, and dorky hat and his Queens accent, and started the conversation with a real opener:

"God, are you disgusting."

Angel jerked, completely unused to being talked to. He started to crawl back into the shadows of the alley.

"This is really and unforgettable smell," Whistler continued. "This is the stench of death you're giving off here. And the look says crazy homeless guy." He shook his head. "It's not good."

"Get away from me."

Whistler feigned terror. "What are you going to do, bite me? Oh, horrors! A vampire!"

Angel stared at him. He had no idea who this person was, or how he knew what Angel was. But he did know.

"Oh, but you're not going to bite me because of your poor tortured soul," Whistler continued, mocking him. "It's so sad, a vampire with a soul. How poignant. I may physically vomit right here."

"Who are you?" Angel demanded.

"A demon, technically. But I'm not a bad guy. Not all demons are dedicated to the destruction of life. Someone has to maintain balance, you know. Good and evil can't exist without each other, blah blah blah. I'm not like a good fairy or anything. I'm just trying to make it balance. Do I come off defensive?"

Angel had no answer for that. But Whistler had plenty more to say.

"You could become an even more useless rodent than you are right now, or you could become… someone. A person. Someone to be counted."

Angel's voice was filled with self-loathing "I just want to be left alone." He meant it, truly. Yet he couldn't help wondering how this demon had found him, and why. Maybe it was self-preservation, and maybe it was egotistical curiosity. He wasn't sure.

"You've been alone for what, ninety years? And what an impressive package you are. The stink guy." Whistler wrinkled his nose.

Angel was the one who came off defensive. "You don't know what I have to deal with. What I've done."

Whistler rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're annoying me! The self-pity thing is not gonna bring in the chicks. It's a bore."

Knowing he was playing right into the hands of the obnoxious stranger, Angel asked, "What do you want from me?"

Whistler was clearly pleased. "I want you to see something. It's happening very soon. We'd need to leave now. You see, and then you tell me what you want to do."

What Angel saw was a younger Buffy, a bit younger than when they finally met. Different in some way, very much the same in others. She was popular, surrounded by cute, superficial girls who could have been clones of her. They were chatting and laughing about boys and clothes.

Until Merrick arrived.

Merrick had been her first watcher. The man had told her of her destiny: one girl in every generation is the Chosen One; she and she alone will fight the demons, the vampires, and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.

She had not believed Merrick. But then he had taken her to a graveyard and shown her a few basic fight manoeuvres. That very night she dusted her first vamp.

She'd come home later without calling, and had to lie about it; and as she listened in the bathroom with tears streaming down her face, her parents argued about what a terrible job each was doing of raising her.

Whistler stated the obvious, but it was exactly what Angel was thinking.

"She's gonna have it tough, that Slayer. She's just a kid. And the world is full of big bad things."

Angel was filled with concern. "I want to help her," he said sincerely. "I want to… I want to become someone. I want to help."

Even then, Whistler had gotten off one last jab.

"Jeez, look at you. She must be prettier than the last slayer."

Angel looked down. He had killed Slayers in his day. Whistler must know that.

"It's not gonna be easy. The more you live in the world, the more you see how apart from it you are," Whistler warned him. "And this is dangerous work. Right now you couldn't go three rounds with a fruit fly."

Angel accepted his cutting remarks. He wanted to help that young girl. "I want to learn from you."

"Okay."

They walked together. Then Angel said, "But I don't want to dress like you."

Whistler had acted mildly insulted. "See? Again you're annoying me."

End extract from Angel: city of, the novelisation of the series premier by Nancy Holder

Buffy smiled waveringly at him,

"I remember that night. I came home late and said I'd been out with a friend. It was one of the first times I heard my parents arguing. I woke up the next morning and hoped it was all just a bad dream. But Merrick came into the locked room at school that afternoon and threw a knife at my head. I caught it and hit him. He died not long after that."

It was true. Buffy was certain that no matter how many demons she slew and however long she stayed alive, she would always remember those first few days, when she had been so inexperienced.

END OF FLASHBACK

Shaking herself out of her daze, she jumped out of bed and got dressed quickly. She automatically put on clothes that she would have usually worn to go out patrolling, black leather trousers and a red velvet top. She pulled her hair into a bunch applied a little mascara and lip-gloss. She then pulled on a leather duster and headed downstairs.

Her mom was still in that morning, it being a late opening at the gallery. Joyce Summers also seemed to be trying to bond with her daughter at the time, as if in an attempt to make up for the years of her daughter's life in which she had been completely oblivious of her only child's calling and destiny.

Buffy smiled at her mother and took a seat at the kitchen table. She poured herself a tall glass of orange juice and took a pot of yoghurt. When she had finished the yoghurt and taken a few sips of the juice, she placed the cup down on the table and spoke to her mother,

"Mom, you remember Angel, right?"

Joyce Summers seemed slightly startled by the question but she replied anyway,

"Angel, wasn't he that student who was tutoring you in history and that you…?"

The end of the question trailed off, but was obvious to both of them. Buffy flushed slightly as she answered,

"Yeah, well it's a bit more complicated than what you think…"

Joyce stared at her daughter, it was hard enough to find out that her seventeen year-old daughter had slept with a college student, but now it appeared that there was even more to it than that.

"Continue."

Buffy was unsure as to how to begin, so she went for what seemed an easier way in,

"I know that I said that Angel was a student right, but he's a bit older than that."

Joyce paled rapidly,

"How old exactly is he?"

Buffy paused for a minute before she answered,

"Well, he has been a vampire for two-hundred and forty three years and he was turned at the age of twenty-five, so that would make him two-hundred and sixty-eight. But I've just found out that he was technically born just over fifteen years ago and is therefore legally fifteen, but he went through this time vortex thing and ended up in Galway in 1754. And I'm not making any sense at all am I?"

Joyce shook her head mutely and Buffy tried to think of a good way to phrase what she was about to say and then just blurted it out,

"Mom, Angel's a two hundred and sixty eight year old vampire, but he was born Harry James Potter in England on the 31st of July fifteen years ago. Apparently this time vortex opened on his fifteenth birthday. He was sent back to Galway in 1743, where he lived until he was twenty-five, when a vampiress named Darla changed him."

Joyce stared at her daughter,

"Angel's a vampire. I thought you were supposed to kill all the vampires?"

Buffy sighed, wondering how to explain this to her still mostly ignorant mother,

"It's complicated. Vampires are basically soulless corpses with demons. Angel was like that once. He was called Angelus then, the one with the angelic face. He became known as the Scourge of Europe and many other terrible things. For over one hundred years he maimed his way across Europe and other places. But then he ate the wrong girl. She was the favourite daughter of a tribe of gypsies. They took revenge on Angelus by giving him back his soul."

Joyce interrupted then,

"What, were they all out of boils and painful torture?"

Buffy shook her head,

"It's different. The thing about being a vampire is that you have no conscience, no morals. Vampires enjoy suffering. Angel killed his family and tortured and murdered countless others. For over one hundred years he offered a bloody death to everyone he met and he did it with a smile in his heart. He turned a young girl named Drusilla once. She had visions and he pretended to be a priest at her confessional. He told her she was evil and killed everyone she told him about. She finally went into a convent and was about to take her vows when he turned her. She went insane. When Angel had his soul returned, he remembered all the things he did and felt the guilt of one and a half centuries. He told me that the worst part was that those memories were good ones."

Joyce stared at her daughter,

"When did Angel receive this curse?"

Buffy smiled,

"1898, he then spent over ninety years alone with his grief and regret. Then a demon named Whistler showed me to him and he prepared to come here. He saved my life many times and I was already attracted to him when I found out he was a vampire. I still loved him after I found out about his past and his curse. On my seventeenth birthday, we… we… we made love for the first time. It was beautiful. But, his curse was more complicated than we thought. There was a break clause. If Angel ever experienced a moment of true happiness, if he ever stopped suffering, even for a moment, then his soul would vanish into the ether once again."

Joyce interrupted her daughter,

"So, when the two of you… slept together, he had this moment of true happiness?"

Buffy nodded,

"Yes, his soul disappeared. I told you that he changed, and he did. He became Angelus once more. He was the Scourge of Europe and the master of the Aurelius clan, one of the most powerful vampire clans in the world. He was truly evil. But I couldn't kill him. I always loved Angel too much. It was too hard to try and kill the person who wore the face of the only one I'd ever loved. It reached an impasse for a time. Then Angelus tried to pull the entire world into the hell dimension of the demon, Acathla. Willow had been trying to restore his soul. I fought Angelus and was about to kill him, when his soul returned. He didn't remember what had happened over the last few months. He just told me he loved me. I held him. But it was too late. The portal was opening. The only way to close it was to kill Angel. I kissed him, told him I loved him, told him to close his eyes, then I put a sword through his stomach and sent him to hell."

Joyce gasped, but Buffy was not finished yet,

"He returned a couple of nights ago. He came back from hell for me. He suffered unspeakable torment for approximately five hundred years and he never forgot me. Then, last night, these witches and wizards came from England to look for him. I found out about his life as Harry Potter. He has to go back, to take revenge on the evil wizard who murdered his mother and father. And, I'm going with him. The headmaster of his school offered me a job teaching defence at his school. I'll be earning a full wage and will be able to continue my studies and take my SATs at the same time. I want to go. I can't be away from Angel any more."

Joyce stared at her daughter,

"You love him." It wasn't a question. "But what about his curse?"

Buffy smiled jubilantly,

"That's the best part. He told me that there's this enormous library at his school. Apparently just about every book on magic ever written is there. There should be one on gypsy magic. We'll be able to find a cure to the break clause; we'll make his soul permanent. Then we're going to get married. He loves me and he wants to marry me. In one way we already are. He gave me a claddagh ring on my seventeenth birthday and we made love that night. In Gaelic culture, we're already married."

Joyce stared at her daughter, it was one thing to find out your daughter was in love with a vampire, but quite another to find out she was married to said vampire.

"But, you won't be able to have children."

Buffy's smile faded,

"Mom, I don't want children. I'm the slayer. I don't want to bring innocents into my world. They'll never have any peace because of who and what I am. And, I wouldn't want my children growing up without a mother. I'm the slayer. Everyone dies sooner or later, but with me it's more likely to be sooner. I wouldn't want anybody forced into my world. There could never be anyone else. Part of me will always be bound to Angel. If I tried to be with anyone else I would never be happy and I would never be whole."

Joyce was stunned; she had never truly realised the implications of what it meant for her daughter to be the slayer until now. Buffy spoke again,

"So, can I go?"

Joyce looked into her daughter's eyes and saw the hope there and the love she knew shone for Angel alone. Separating her daughter from this man would be the cruellest thing she could ever do. She nodded,

"Yes, you can go. But you have to write and keep up with your studies and invite me to the wedding. And I want your father and I to go out for dinner with this Angel. I have never really met him and your father simply hasn't met him. Understood?"

Buffy smiled jubilantly and hugged her mom,

"Thank you. Thank you."

Joyce smiled faintly,

"That's alright Buffy, but breathing is kind of becoming an issue now."

Buffy flushed,

"Sorry, sometimes I forget my own strength."

Joyce smiled slightly at her daughter's embarrassment,

"That's okay. Now get off to school. And talk to that horrible Snyder rat man about getting your work sent to you."

Buffy sighed,

"Give me strength."

Joyce smiled as her daughter wolfed down her breakfast and grabbed her bag before running out of the door. It would be difficult when Buffy went to England, but her daughter had not been this happy since January. If Angel made her this happy, then he had to be all right. The vampire thing she would eventually come to deal with. Buffy deserved that.

Buffy ran all the way to school that morning, using her slayer speed to make it there on time. She groaned slightly when she remembered having to talk to Principal Snyder, but the fact that her mother had agreed to her being with Angel even made her feel almost good about Principal Snyder. Almost. She waved at Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz as she ran up the steps and towards the principal's office.

She came to a halt outside the door behind which lay her doom. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. Principal Snyder's grating voice sounded after a moment,

"Come in."

She pushed the door open and stepped inside the office. When Snyder saw who was at his door he smirked malevolently,

"Ah, Miss Summers. Only just back at school and already making trouble. What is it this time?"

Buffy resisted the urge to scowl and merely rolled her eyes.

"Nobody sent me here, Principal Snyder. I came here to talk to you about continuing my studies abroad."

Buffy would have sworn that Principal Snyder smiled at that comment.

"Well, what is it?"

"Well, I have been offered a position at a highly exclusive English boarding school, teaching self-defence. I have accepted, but I would like to continue my studies and take my SATs. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to have the necessary work sent over and for me to sit my SATs abroad."

Buffy could see two emotions warring on Snyder's face, anger that she had been offered a position at an exclusive school and pleased to get her out of his school and hair. Pleasure won out,

"I'm sure that will be fine Miss Summer's. I will inform your teachers to give you the necessary work and will arrange for you to have your SATs sent over."

Buffy thanked him and quickly exited the office. It was very hard to stop smiling like an idiot, so happy was she at the prospect of her future. Only a few days ago it had all seemed so very bleak, no Angel and only slaying and an early grave to expect in her life. Now Angel was back and they would find a way around his curse. Her mother had given her approval and she was going to be teaching others what she was best at. All she could hope was that her friends and Giles were not too upset about her not telling them about Angel immediately.

That was the only real worry that she had left. She knew that it would be hard for Giles and the gang to see the difference between Angel and Angelus, but Buffy also knew that Angel would be torturing himself enough on his own without having to deal with the others' animosity.

She expected that Oz would not hold what Angelus had done against Angel. This was because she suspected that Oz could relate to Angel's problem, what with his full-moon issues. Cordelia would probably be more forgiving as she had never really known Angel before the events of Buffy's birthday and also thought that Angel was a complete hotty. Which, of course, he was. Willow would accept Angel. She could relate with Buffy, as her boyfriend became very hairy three nights a month. Even if it weren't for that, Willow would try to understand, as she had been the one who had always been there for Buffy all during the time when Angelus had been tormenting her.

No, it was Giles and Xander that Buffy was worried about. Mostly Giles. There was no love lost between Xander and Angel and Xander might need a swift kick up the ass, but he would be no worse really than he normally was to Angel. No, the only one Buffy was really concerned about was Giles. She knew that her watcher was an intelligent man, and he had always been the one to tell her how separate Angel was from Angelus. But Giles had also loved Jenny Calender very much; her murder would always be difficult for Giles to forgive. Then there was also the more pertinent issue of what Angelus had done to her watcher personally. The torture that the master vampire had inflicted on him was unimaginable. She hoped that the tentative friendship she had sensed between her soul mate and her father figure would ease some of the tension between them.

Faith was also an unknown quantity. Buffy hoped that she would not have to stand between Angel and the other Slayer, as she was developing a sister-ship with the other Slayer. Buffy tried to take it as a positive side that Faith had accepted her word for Angel and not attacked him the previous night. Maybe Buffy could set Faith up with someone. Her sister-slayer had always shown some attraction to Scott…

Buffy paled and halted in the middle of the corridor. How on earth was she going to explain this to Scott? She knew that, now Angel was back, it would not be fair on either of them to attempt to keep up a relationship. But she also understood that it would not be fair to Scott to break it off with him without any explanation. She'd have to ask Willow what to say. Somehow she didn't think that saying; 'Scott, it's been fun, but I'm going off to England with my two-hundred and sixty-eight year old undead boyfriend' was really going to cut it in the breaking up nicely stakes.

Buffy's musings were forcibly curtailed by her arrival outside of her history classroom. She pushed on the door and stepped inside. Her history teacher, whom she had only met a few times and whose name she couldn't quite remember, scowled and said,

"Miss Summers, you are late, as usual. I hope you have a reasonable excuse this time?"

Buffy flushed slightly at the laughter this comment attracted. Then she remembered that she had an excuse that was not 'I was slaying vampires last night and something weird came up. I had to go talk to my watcher about it, who happens to be the librarian here'. Smiling, she regained her composure and replied to her teacher's subtle jibe,

"I was in Principal Snyder's office, talking to him about continuing my studies abroad whilst teaching self-defence in an exclusive English boarding school."

Flicking and imaginary speck of dust off her duster, she took her normal seat at the back with Xander and Willow. Once the teacher had regained their composure, they continued with the lesson.

Buffy cast a quick glance at Willow and Xander, attempting to work out how mad they were with her. To her luck, neither of them seemed that annoyed. Willow looked slightly confused, but Buffy suspected that had more to do with the fact that there were magical schools where magic was an everyday thing and those who used it were normal, not special. Xander looked a bit annoyed with her at first, but then gave her a quick grin.

Opening up a notebook, Buffy tore out a page and wrote on it:

'I'm sorry about not telling you guys about Angel immediately, but he was not all there at first and I didn't want you getting hurt. Hugs and smoochies. Buffy.'

She passed the note to Willow and Xander and received it back a few minutes later, with another message written on it:

'We understand Buffy, but we should talk in the library later when everyone's there. We need to work out how many of us are going with you. X and Willow.'

Buffy smiled and bent her head studiously to her History work. Her friends really were amazing, not only were they supporting her in this, but they were also willing to go to England with her. Suddenly, history didn't seem as tedious as it usually did. If her friends didn't hate her for everything that had happened, she could survive anything. All she could wish for now was Giles support and the answer to Angel's curse in the Hogwarts' library. All of them had a free next period, even Cordelia, so they could go to the library then and talk to Giles.

When the, now extended to five, Scooby gang arrived at the library, Faith was there and Giles was sorting through a large pile of books, placing some in a case. Giles looked up as his slayer entered the room with her entourage. He smiled as she entered and stopped sorting through the books. Buffy spoke as soon as she saw her watcher,

"Giles, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. But I didn't know how you'd take it and I wasn't sure if Angel was okay. I didn't know whether he was still alright, 'cos he was not at his best when he came back and…"

Giles held up a hand to forestall the flow of words and approached his slayer and wrapped her in a hug. Buffy froze for a moment and then returned the hug to the only father figure she'd ever really had in her life. She buried her head in his shoulder and cried. She didn't know exactly why she needed to do this, but she did. She had cried a fair share of tears last night with Angel, but she needed this connection with her watcher.

When she had moistened the shoulder of Giles' tweed suit, she sniffed and wiped her eyes, pulling away from her dignified English watcher. Giles seemed slightly embarrassed by the episode and coughed slightly. Then he asked, unable to curtail his scholarly curiosity any longer,

"How long… was Angel… _there_?"

Buffy shuddered slightly as she responded,

"If by there you mean Acathla's hell dimension, the answer is the equivalent of five hundred of our years."

Giles gaped in astonishment, a sight that Buffy would have found amusing if it weren't for the severity of the situation and the fact that she had to remember that she had sentenced the only person she had ever really loved to half a millennium of endless torment. After a moment, Giles recollected his jaw and murmured to the room in general,

"It's a miracle that he retained any vestiges of sanity and memory."

Buffy winced and then answered,

"He didn't remember much, only my name. He came back the night after the whole episode with Kakistos as far as I know. He arrived in the mansion, in the same place as was Acathla's statue. He ran from the mansion. I didn't find him 'till that night when I went on patrol while Faith was watching Oz. He was in the park. He wasn't quite himself. I chained him up in the mansion with some chains I found in Drusilla's fucked up room. Then I came back here to take up Oz watch and read up on possible reasons why Angel might have come back. You found me like that the next morning, Giles. That night was the whole Pete and Debbie fiasco. I followed Pete. He had killed Debbie. He was going to kill me, Giles. Then Angel arrived. He killed Pete and saved me. Then he came towards me. He looked at me. He said my name. He remembered everything then. Over the last few nights he's been recovering and regaining the last of his missing memories. That's the story as far as I know it."

All six of the other people in the room stared at her in astonishment. Although she had not said it in words, it was obvious that Angel had attacked her when he had first returned. To have lived through Angelus' stalking and having to kill the person she lived and then having him return and try to kill them, they doubted that they would have been able to survive. They had always admired Buffy's physical strength, but it was only now that the true extent of her mental strength was made clear to them. Then Giles remembered that Buffy and Angel had been on patrol the previous evening and he had to ask her how it went,

"Buffy, were there any mysterious disturbances that I should know about last night?"

Buffy smiled and nodded,

"Yeah, there was one. It terrified everyone in Willy's. Apparently the slayer walked in with a dark-haired vampire that everyone in the demon community is still afraid of and is supposed to be dead. By all accounts they ordered a diet coke and some double O neg. My sources tell me that they were there talking most of the night. Other than that, it was pretty quiet. I staked a couple of fledglings but that was about it."

Giles couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that. It seemed that despite all the upheavals going on in Buffy's life, she still had her sense of ironic humour. The scenario that she had described also amused him. He could just imagine the effect of Buffy walking into Willy's. Combining that with the shock of Angel walking in, as alive as a vampire could be, when he was reported dead and still thought of as Angelus. The effect of this would be highly amusing, but for the two to act like they were just normal customers of that bar, was highly entertaining as a concept. Giles almost wished he had been there to see it.

Just as he was about to make this observation, the door swung open. The first one to walk in was Angel, his sleeve smoking slightly but otherwise okay. Behind him walked in the two wizards and the witch from the previous night.

Silence fell over the library as Angel locked eyes with the Slayer's friends. He was unable to keep eye contact with them for very long. Then, Buffy broke the tableau by going to embrace her undead lover and check his injuries from the sunlight were merely superficial. Willow moved as well, going to the door to place the 'closed for re-shelving' sign outside of the library.

With one arm still around Buffy, Angel turned to the three Professors and said,

"Do feel free to take a seat, we may be here a while."

The dark haired wizards, whom Angel had introduced as Professor Snape, scowled and took a seat as far out of the light as possible. This was easy for him, as Oz had moved to close all the curtains when Angel had entered the room. The stern looking witch that Angel had addressed as Professor McGonagel merely sat in the nearest chair, whilst Albus Dumbledore sat down, his eyes twinkling constantly.

Buffy disentangled herself from Angel's grasp and approached the three visitors.

"I thought we weren't to leave until this evening. 'Cos I've got important stuff to do and people to talk to before I can go anywhere."

Professor Dumbledore smiled amiably at the young girl.

"No, we are still to leave this evening, however, there are certain details that must be discussed before we can depart."

Buffy was not appeased and scowled at the venerable old wizard,

"What kind of details?"

Dumbledore was slightly shocked by the strength of the seventeen-year-old's gaze. Even though he knew that she was the slayer, he hadn't expected this kind of psychological power in one so small. From what he knew of slayers, this attitude was not common among them. Even more unusual was the slayer's relationship with a vampire. Although he was not privy to the exact details of their relationship, it was obvious the two were deeply in love with each other and also completely devoted. Their feelings for each other were plain in their body language, the way they stood as close to each other as possible, the way they stared into each other's eyes when the thought the others in the room weren't watching. And also in the not so casual arm Harry, now Angel, had wrapped around the slayer's waist.

Dumbledore remembered then that the slayer had asked him a question and he replied to it,

"Nothing serious, just the extent of what we inform the other students about Mr Potter's transformation and sunlight allergy. Also, what exactly your position entails."

Buffy subsided at this and approached the table. Angel immediately moved to hold out a chair for her and, smiling, she took it. Once she had seated herself, Angel then took a seat. Unconsciously, they leant slightly towards each other once they were seated, as if trying to make up for months of separation in that moment. Albus smiled, he was very glad to see his favourite student so much in love with someone.

Angel turned his piercing gaze on his former professor. Dumbledore then remembered what his purpose there was,

"Ah, yes. Mr. Potter. I presume you will need to rejoin the fifth years to continue your education?"

Angel shook his head,

"No, professor, I attended Hogwarts back in the 1740s. I completed my magical education then. I went under the name Liam O'Connor and was in Slytherin and head-boy in my time. However, it might be more prudent if I returned to my fifth year of education. That would raise fewer eyebrows at the ministry."

Dumbledore nodded,

"You are quite correct, however, it will be difficult to explain your new appearance, Harry."

Angel jumped slightly,

"Sorry, I'm just going to have to get used to being called that name again. As for my appearance, we shall merely tell a slightly abridged version of the truth. We shall explain that I had an accident involving a rip in the fabric of space and time. The magical energy such transportation requires is so great as to have a permanent affect on aspects of the physiology. We shall say that I was transported back ten years in time and was unable to return until after I had left, otherwise the space-time continuum would have been obliterated and the fabric of the universe entirely destroyed."

Dumbledore processed this theory and nodded his approval of the plan. Angel continued,

"As for the sunlight issue, I will not say anything. I will have to stop playing quidditch and get my Care of Magical Creatures notes from Hermione. I will use the tunnels and avoid windows. If it would be possible for there to be some kind of arrangement that meant I didn't have to be in any classrooms where there are windows, that would be greatly appreciated. If you could think of some reason for me to have a room in the dungeons, that would also be very useful."

Dumbledore agreed that this plan was both realistic and the most sensible thing to do in the circumstances. Then Snape spoke silkily,

"These ideas are possible, however, I wish to know how we can guarantee the safety of the students. Soul or none, all vampires require blood to exist."

Angel flinched and Buffy started to rise from her chair to show the sarcastic potions master just what she thought of him. Angel placed a restraining hand on her arm and gently pushed her back into the chair. He then turned and faced Snape himself,

"I can guarantee that I will have an entirely safe blood supply. I have no doubt I will be able to locate a butcher to do business with as I do here. If worse comes to worst, I will steal blood from a blood bank or hospital. I will not harm anyone voluntarily."

Snape glowered and then jumped on this last word,

"Voluntarily?"

Buffy interrupted before Angel could reply,

"He gets a bit cross if you wake him too early, greaseball."

Snape started to retort but Dumbledore shot him a look. Resisting the urge to kiss Buffy, Angel answered for himself,

"My reflexes are honed from two-hundred and fifty years of combat here and another five hundred in another dimension. If I am attacked by surprise, I cannot guarantee the safety of the attacker. It would probably be advantageous if this message was insinuated among the students, particularly among those such as Malfoy who aren't fond of me."

Snape was forced to accept this answer and advice from one of his most despised students. Dumbledore then turned to Buffy,

"I trust you are still amenable to taking a teaching post at Hogwarts?"

At Buffy's nod, Dumbledore continued,

"Unfortunately, my hands are tied by the ministry and I cannot offer you the post of teaching magical defence. However, very few of our students have any concept of self-defence once they have lost their wand. If you would agree to teach this new subject, it would very advantageous to us."

Buffy smiled her acceptance of this, then Dumbledore asked,

"How many of you are going to be joining us in Hogwarts?"

Buffy turned to face the group, also interested in how many of her friends would come. Faith shook her head,

"Sorry B, I have to stay here and play stake the vamps on the hellmouth."

Buffy accepted this reason, knowing that it was imperative for a slayer to be stationed on an active hellmouth. The others all seemed to be united in their decision to go with her however. Before she could open her mouth to protest, Xander spoke.

"Buff, I know you-re probably going to tell us not to come. We've made up our minds. The four of us are going to continue our studies abroad with you. We've already arranged it with Principal Snyder. Will wants to study different magicks, Oz wants to see if he can do anything about his body hair issue and Cordy and I want to increase our life expectancy to anything above the next few days. We're your friends and we don't want to lose you again. And frankly we have better chances of staying alive over there than we do if we stay in good old Sunny-hell. Oh yeah, and G-man's your watcher, he has that whole, 'where the slayer goes I follow' thing going on."

Buffy smiled. Her friends never ceased to amaze her. It was somewhat of a shock that Cordy wanted to come with her though. Then she looked at Cordy and Xander and the way they looked at each other and it made a lot more sense. However much 'Queen C' might try to deny it, she had fallen hard for Xander Harris and was not going to risk losing him. Buffy's opinion of the cheerleader was raised a few more notches.

Just then, Buffy remembered exactly who had the real final decision when it came to who was allowed to come to Hogwarts with her and Angel. She turned to the headmaster Dumbledore and gave him her best death glare. She spoke in tones of ice,

"If that is amenable to you, Professor?"

The seemingly unflappable professor was, Buffy was pleased to note, slightly disturbed by her glare and voice. However, he regained his composure at record speeds. His answer was vastly acceptable,

"That is perfectly fine, Miss Summers. I do believe we may be able to assist your friend Mr. Osbourne and Miss Rosenburg's knowledge of magick will prove invaluable. As your watcher and a pure-blooded member of the wizarding community, even if he is a squib, Mr. Giles is more than entitled to join you. Mr. Harris and Miss Chase are also welcome to accompany you. Their introduction to the wizarding community will be permissible, as they are friends of the slayer. Also, they will go to reassure the ministry that it does not seem that we are planning a war against them."

Buffy accepted this answer, although she didn't like the idea of her friends being used as a political tool. Then something Dumbledore said jumped out at her and she turned to her watcher,

"You never told me you were a squib."

Giles flushed slightly and then answered,

"Yes, well. My mother was the eldest daughter of a very powerful magical family. My father's family also had magical connections as well as a heritage in the council. Because of these connections my parents were given permission to marry. As I was born a squib, I was not recognised by the family. This was what prompted me into some of my actions with Ethan Rayne. My mother was murdered not long after Voldemort first came to power. I have not been to the wizarding world since I was fifteen and went to Knockturn Alley with Ethan."

Buffy nodded, accepting Giles' story. Angel had told her about pureblood prejudices the previous night. She then returned her attention to the three Hogwarts professors,

"Well, if that's everything, I have to go and break up with Scott. I'm sure you all have things to do. Do them, and if you don't think of something to do. Angel, I'll see you this evening. Don't get burned or anything on your way back."

With that, Buffy swept out of the library.

Buffy found Scott sitting outside. He was sitting on a bench doing a calculus assignment. He looked up and smiled when he saw her. Feeling like she was just about to kill a puppy, Buffy say down. She smiled apprehensively at her boyfriend.

"Scott, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Scott looked at her and put his pen down when he saw the serious look on her face.

"What is it, are you okay?"

Buffy smiled slightly, Scott could be really sweet. She would have fallen for him under most circumstances, but he just wasn't Angel. Then she remembered what she was there to do and her smile faded,

"Scott, I don't want to do this. I'm going to England tonight."

Scott stared at her and it looked like he wanted to say something, but Buffy continued,

"Scott, I've really enjoyed going out with you and everything. You've been really nice to me and under most circumstances I would really like to be with you. But, things were really complicated for me when we got together and they just got more complicated. I want you to be happy and to have a normal life. I know that if you stay with me you'll never be able to have that. It's really complicated, but there are these people who want to kill me, I don't want you getting hurt. And there's this guy. He's one of the people whose supposed to be killing me, but he's a friend and he's more than that. He kinda fell in with the old crowd and we broke up, badly. But he's back now. I love him. I may never be able to have anything resembling normal with him, but I could never be with you knowing that I wouldn't be able to care about you like you deserved. You need someone who won't have to always have to stop themselves from thinking about someone else. I hope I haven't hurt you too much. I thought it was better that I tell you now instead of just going off to England and leaving you to wonder."

Scott had that look that was common amongst all men, that they wanted to cry, but were far too macho to do it in public. Buffy then reached her hand into a pocket of her duster and removed a small jewellery box. She placed it in Scott's hand and closed his fingers around it.

"I'm sorry Scott. I hope you can find someone who deserves it more than I do."

With that, Buffy gave Scott one last hug, stood up and walked away.

Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia all met outside Angel's mansion as the sun sank over the horizon in a blaze of glory. They had already said good-bye to Faith, who was moving into to Buffy's house. Apparently Joyce needed someone to mother now that her own daughter had moved out and the younger slayer was the perfect target. Buffy was happy for Faith, the dark-haired slayer hadn't had a very happy childhood and it would be good if she could have something resembling one now.

They had all packed everything they thought they would need, which was a lot in Cordelia's case, or rather, cases. Buffy carried the suitcases into the hall, seeing the looks of gratitude she was given for such an action. They then all entered the mansion together. They found Angel waiting with the three Hogwarts professors in the entrance. Angel removed his wand and muttered something softly and suddenly the cases were the size of a quarter each. They gathered round a piece of parchment that Dumbledore held out and all made sure they were touching it, before the entire group, and their luggage, winked out of sight.

Tbc


	6. Chapter 6

****

AN: CHAPTER SIX, I FELL SO SELF-ACHIEVED. AM TRYING NOT TO THINK ABOUT THE TWO-HOUR EXAM I HAVE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS DISPLACEMENT THERAPY.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN AND NEVER WILL. AM TOO MUCH FEMALE TO EVER BE JOSS WHEDON

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE MORE LATER ON

Chapter Six

The party disappeared from the mansion on Crawford Street to reappear in a small and dark room. The three older wizards kept their feet, but the young slayerettes fell to the grown. Buffy, Angel and Giles, who had also kept their feet, helped the others to stand. Angel looked around and then turned to Professor Dumbledore,

"Where are we?"

Professor Dumbledore smiled and then answered,

"Number 12 Grimmauld place. This is the Order headquarters and also the family home of your godfather."

To the surprise of those from Sunnydale, Angel paled, if that were even possible for a vampire,

"Sirius, he's here."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded,

"Yes, he's been very frightened for you."

Angel smiled,

"Can we go and find him?"

Dumbledore nodded,

"I am sure that that would be pleasing for him and Remus."

Angel suddenly became nervous, unsure if his friends would accept him for what he had become. Buffy sensed this and wrapped her arms around him. Nuzzling against his broad chest, she whispered so that only she and he could hear,

"If he really cares about you, he won't care what's happened to you. And if he hurts you, I'll kill him, human or not."

Angel smiled down at his petite blond lover,

"That won't be necessary, I'm just really apprehensive. For him it's only been a few months since I last saw him. For me it's been two-hundred and fifty-three years here and then all that time in Acathla's dimension, I can barely remember what they look like."

Buffy smiled at him,

"It will be okay, Angel."

Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at the dynamic between the two. It was obvious that they were completely in love with each other. He then asked his student,

"When do you want to meet everyone?"

Angel thought for a moment,

"If you summon everyone to a meeting, we'll introduce ourselves then. If I come in last, the others will have slightly broken the ice a little."

Dumbledore nodded, it was a sensible idea. He sent the two other professors to make sure all the windows in the house were closed and then went himself to arrange the meeting. He hoped for Harry's sake that his friends would understand everything that had happened over the summer.

Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen with the other young Weasleys, all trying to work out where Harry might have gone. The two other members of the golden trio hadn't heard from the boy-who-lived since the end of July, when his last letter had arrived. They hadn't been told much about the progress being made by the order into finding out where he was. They were told that this was confidential order business.

Their theories as to where Harry might be became more and more fantastical as the summer progressed. Now it was almost a competition to see who could come up with the most ridiculous idea as to where he might be, now it was Hermione's turn to guess,

"He's run off to join a monastery in Outer Mongolia."

Run smirked, having decided that he had the best idea yet,

"His cousin confused him for food and accidentally ate him."

The other youths around the table groaned and threw chunks of cauldron cakes at the youngest male Weasley. Fred, or it might be George, came up with his own suggestion,

"He's gone to Las Vegas and become a showgirl."

This idea was greeted with more groans from the group and more bits of thrown cake. Ginny was just about to give her idea, involving a giant man-eating pumpkin, when the door swung open. Professor Dumbledore entered the kitchen. Many other members of the order entered behind him. Mrs Weasley, who had been standing by the stove, listening to her children's' ridiculous ideas, turned to tell the students to leave,

"Children, Hermione, go to your rooms and don't even think about using those ears."

The Weasleys and Hermione groaned at the order, but stood to leave anyway, Professor Dumbledore intervened before they could leave the room,

"No, Molly, they need to be here for this meeting."

Mrs Weasley looked as if she might protest, but a stern look from the headmaster curbed any complaints she might otherwise make.

Once the entire Order was sat in the room, including the four youngest Weasleys and Hermione, Professor Dumbledore spoke,

"We were searching through the magical emissions documentation from this July, when we came across a highly disturbing piece of information."

Many questions arose from this comment, but Dumbledore dismissed them all by waving his hand slightly. He then continued,

"The danger did not seem to be relevant to the disappearance of Mr Potter, but it was almost as important. There was a very high magical output from the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, California. Checking previous magical records proved that this emission was indeed from an identical magical signature as the infamous vampire, Angelus, who was thought to have disappeared at the end of the 19th century."

Many more questions were shouted at this point, the vampire Angelus was well known to all the order members. The idea that he might still be around was terrible. The chances that he might join forces with Voldemort were high and the prospect terrifying. Dumbledore once again raised a hand for silence and continued with his story.

"Professors Snape, McGonagall and I apparated to America and located the place at which the magic reading was identified. We entered the mansion, to which we were admitted by the slayer that killed the master. We asked to see Angelus, and we were eventually allowed to meet him. To our astonishment, we discovered that Angelus regained his soul at the end of the 19th century, thus explaining his disappearance. Even more astonishing was what happened when we met Angelus. He told us he was now using the name Angel and was willing to return with us to help in our fight against Voldemort. The slayer was willing to teach a course of muggle self-defence at Hogwarts and some of her friends, as well as her watcher, accompanied her."

With that, the door to the kitchen opened once more and a group walked in. Most of the group was about seventeen, but one was much older, this one could only be the Slayer's watcher. When they were seated, Dumbledore continued,

"The most astonishing thing was the information Angel was able to give us about the whereabouts of Mr Potter."

This time there was silence greeting Professor Dumbledore's remark. The aged wizard continued,

"Angel was able to inform us that Harry had not left his relative's house. There was an accident on his fifteenth birthday that caused a rip in the fabric of space and time. Harry woke in Galway, Ireland in 1743. The magic used in such transportation was so intense as to have a significant affect on Harry's physical appearance. Harry was found and raised by the Duke of Galway and given the new name, Liam O'Connor. Ten years later, Harry was turned by a vampiress known as Darla. Harry became known by his middle name, which was now Angelus. For one hundred and fifty years he travelled with Darla, and two other vampires later on. His exploits during this period are infamous and can be read about in most volumes on vampires. What is not well known is what happened after that. In 1898, Angelus fed from a gypsy girl. The girl was the favourite daughter of the Kalderash tribe. The tribe elders cursed Angelus with his soul. After many years, Angelus, now known as Angel, came to Sunnydale, to help the slayer. The story after then is complicated and not mine to tell. But Harry, now Angel has agreed that he must return with us to fight against Voldemort."

A stunned silence settled over the entire room and then the door swung open. All eyes turned to the open door. There, framed by the door, stood Harry Potter, now the ensouled vampire known as Angelus. Dumbledore's comment about changed appearance was correct, Angel was tall, with dark brown hair and eyes, but he still possessed the infamous lightening-bolt scar on his pale forehead. He was dressed all in black and there was great grief and suffering in his dark eyes.

Nobody moved. The entire room was filled with silence. Then the blond stranger, who could be the slayer, rose from her seat in the corner and approached Angel. She wrapped her arms around his chest and led him to where she had been sitting. She sat him down and then placed herself in his lap. She glared at everyone who dared as to so much as look at them. All the females in the room couldn't help but gaze at the startlingly beautiful vampire who used to be a young wizard that could only be described as cute at best.

Then, Ron stood; he scowled at the others in the room and yelled,

"I can't believe this. You just let him come back after everything he's done, after all the people he's killed. He should be killed."

Stunned silence settled over the room. The look of guilt on Angel's face was terrible to behold. The English witches and wizards seemed to be too shocked by Ron's instant betrayal of the man who used to be his best friend. Then Buffy rose from her position on Angel's lap. She stalked across the large kitchen to where Ron stood and slapped him across the face.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh resonated throughout the room. Colour rushed quickly to Ron's smarting cheek. But Buffy wasn't finished yet. She kneed him in the groin hard. Ron bent over and clutched at his stomach. Buffy brought her elbow down on his lowered head with a sickening crack. This final act brought the others in the room back to reality. Angel rose from his seat smoothly and ran over to where his lover was beating the shit out of the boy who used to be his best friend.

He caught Buffy's arm just as she was about to deliver a solid right hook to Ron's back. She struggled against his iron hold on her arms and spat down on Ron's twitching form. Gently, Angel pulled her away from the red-haired wizard and sat her down in her chair. He then knelt on the floor besides her.

"Buffy, you shouldn't have done that. He didn't deserve that."

Buffy shook her head,

"He shouldn't have said that. It's not true."

Angel smiled sadly at her,

"Buffy, everything Ron said was true. I do deserve that."

Buffy shook her head violently,

"NO, you don't. Angel, if I have to say this once people will be able to accuse me of being repetitive. What Angelus did was not your fault. Angelus was a demon and you're one of the best people I've ever met. I love you so much."

Angel smiled up at the woman he loved more than anything else in the world.

"How can you say that, Buffy you know what I did."

Buffy stroked her lover's dark hair,

"Angel, if you can't forgive yourself you'll never be able to do anything."

Angel once again wondered what he had done to deserve this beautiful and understanding woman. Then Buffy turned on Ron,

"As for you. You're lucky Angel decided for some reason to let you live. Because I would have quite willingly broken all the rules about not killing humans for what you just said. You have no idea how much Angel has suffered for what Angelus did. Angel spent five hundred years in hell this summer. If I ever hear anyone saying that again, then not even Angel will be able to stop me from ripping their head off with my bare hands. Is that perfectly understood?"

The look on Buffy's face was so serious that no one would have dared dispute her. Then Charlie Weasley asked the question that was on all of their minds,

"Who ARE you?"

Buffy smirked as she answered,

"Me, I'm the Slayer, I think you might have heard of me."

The jaws of everyone in the room dropped. If it had been possible for a jaw to actually fall from their head without the use of a knife, it would have happened. Buffy smirked even more. Angel gave her a small half smile that made all the females in the room go all wobbly around the knees. Buffy proceeded to glare at each one of them before smiling back at her lover. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat, gesturing at Angel to begin with the introductions,

"This is the Order of the Phoenix I presume professor?"

The entire room gaped at the vampire, after a moment, Tonks asked,

"How'd you know about the order?"

Angel smiled bitterly,

"Well, they, or rather their predecessors, tried to kill me in the 1850s, I kept an eye on them ever since."

The order members then truly realised the meaning of what had happened over what had seemed for them to be only a month. It had been centuries for the immortal vampire that used to be known as Harry Potter. They realised that it was a miracle that he still remembered their names and wanted to help them. Then, Angel began to introduce the gang from Sunnydale, gesturing to each one as he spoke,

"This is Rupert Giles, from the Watcher's Council, he is Buffy's watcher. The redhead is not a Weasley; she's Willow Rosenburg, a highly talented Wicca with potential to become even more powerful. That's Daniel Osbourne but everyone calls him Oz, his secret is his to tell as he wishes. The slayer also goes by the name of Buffy Summers. The other girl is Cordelia Chase; she's a cheerleader and a valuable member of the gang. And, as every village needs to fill its idiot quota, this is Sunnydale's resident moron, Xander Harris, but feel free to ignore and generally abuse him."

Buffy attempted to look annoyed with Angel, and failed miserably. She laughed instead, whilst Xander carried himself with the air of one with injured pride. The other Scoobies stared at Angel however and after a moment Buffy commented on it,

"I think you just used your entire quota of words for one entire month."

Angel shrugged and attempted to look innocent. Buffy's heart soared as she looked at him. She had been worried about what his reaction might be to returning to the life he had left behind a long time ago, but it seemed to be doing him a world of good. Then Buffy spoke to him,

"If you don't mind using up next month's words, can you introduce us to the others here."

Angel nodded and introduced the wizards, taking much less time than he did for the gang from Sunnydale.

"Everyone, this is Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Ginny and Ron Weasley and their parents Molly and Arthur. That's my godfather, Sirius Black and my former Defence Professor, Remus Lupin. That is Hermione Granger, the resident Willow. You know the professors, but the others are Mundugus Fletcher, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody. And finally, that is Fleur Delacour, Beuxbatons graduate and TriWizard competitor."

The Scooby gang nodded at the others in the room, whilst some of the Phoenix members wondered how Mr Potter knew their names without ever being introduced. Angel almost laughed as he watched Buffy eye each of the order members and judge their fighting capability. Even more amusing was watching Harris gape at Fleur until Cordelia hit him on the head and clamped his jaw shut. However, he did not laugh, he doubted some of the party from Sunnydale were adjusted to the idea of him smiling yet, not even to think about laughing. Then he saw Dumbledore looking at some of the other senior members of the order and he rose to his feet, Buffy slipping out of his lap as he did so.

"I presume you wish for us to leave now, Professor?"

Dumbledore nodded and the Scooby gang left the room, followed less eagerly by the younger Weasleys and Hermione. Once they were upstairs, Hermione led them to a large room, where they all proceeded to find seats, although Willow and Buffy chose to sit in their respective boyfriend's laps. Cordelia lounged on a sofa and Xander arranged himself at her feet. Once they were seated, Fred Weasley decided to begin the conversation,

"So, Harry, how was Vegas?"

Tbc.


	7. Chapter 7

****

AN: CHAPTER SEVEN UP. I AM FEELING VERY SELF-ACHIEVED NOW. HAVE NEVER WRITTEN THIS MANY CHAPTERS FOR ONE STORY. THIS IS THERAPY FOR THE TWO UNBELIEVABLY BORING ESSAYS I HAVE JUST WRITTEN, ONE FOR HISTORY AND ONE FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE.

DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED ANYTHING THAT YOU RECOGNISE WITHIN, I WOULDN'T SPEND MY WEEKENDS PAINTING MY PARENTS BEDROOM TO EARN ANY MONEY. IN OTHER WORDS, I DON'T OWN IT AND ANY ATTEMPTS TO SUE ME FOR LIBEL OR PLAUGIARISM WOULD BE POINTLESS.

RATING: PG-13

Chapter Seven

Angel gave Fred a very strange look before he answered,

"I never went to Vegas."

Fred shrugged,

"Oh, we were trying to work out where you went and one theory was that you had run off to Vegas to be a show girl."

The Scooby gang tried very hard not to laugh. The idea of Angel, 'Mr. Broody', being a Vegas showgirl was too ridiculous for words. Buffy smiled and shook her head,

"Vegas is seriously overrated."

Angel gave her a very strange look,

"You went to Vegas?"

Buffy nodded,

"Yeah, I went there with Pike."

Angel stared at her,'

"You went to Vegas with Spike?"

Buffy shook her head,

"Not with Spike, with Pike. He was a friend at Hemery."

Angel looked seriously unimpressed,

"Who was this Pike?"

"He was just a friend, Angel. He helped me when I had just been called and my first watcher had shot himself."

Angel looked stunned, Buffy had never told him much about what had happened after she had first been called, but it seemed that there was much more going on than he had ever known,

"Buffy, what happened?"

Buffy smiled wearily, it was a smile that pierced Angel's heart. He hated that Buffy was forced to be this old. She had seen far too much for any seventeen year old and some things no adult should ever have to experience,

"There was this master vampire. He was called Lothos. Do you know about him?"

Angel nodded dumbly, all vampires from a decent clan knew about Lothos, he was a legend amongst their people. Buffy continued,

"He was my first major slay, there were a few fledglings before that and some I killed while Merrick was training me, but Lothos was the first big one. Merrick got captured by Lothos and shot himself through the head instead of betraying me. I saw it happen. I was hiding with Pike in the shadows and Merrick made me go and then shot himself to protect me. I saw it. There was so much blood everywhere. Pike helped me then and I dusted Lothos. I loved it. It felt so good. I felt powerful. I didn't just stake vamps after that. For a time I tortured them for what they did. Angel, I was fifteen. Pike helped me. I ran off with him over the summer after I burnt down the gym. We went to Vegas for a time. Trust me, it is seriously overrated. Loads of vamps though."

Half way through this confession, Buffy had started to cry slightly, the bitter tears of one who had seen far too much and didn't want to have to remember. Angel wrapped her in his arms and let her cry into his shirt. After a moment, Buffy spoke again,

"I just stood there, Angel. I could have done something, anything. I just froze up and he died. He broke just about every single one of the council's rules for me. He let me stay with my family. And I failed him. He trained me to fight, he taught me my duty and I just let him die. I did nothing."

Angel shook his head,

"Buffy, there was nothing you could have done. He died for you because he cared about you. Darling, you haven't failed him. You've done so much. You killed the master. You lived passed your seventeenth birthday. You've averted the apocalypse so many times you deserve an award. You are truly amazing."

Buffy stared at him,

"What did you call me?"

Angel would have flushed then if he had circulation, but he settled for looking mortified instead.

"I called you Buffy, it's your name."

Buffy shook her head,

"No after that?"

Angel looked even more uncomfortable,

"I called you darling."

Buffy wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his red silk shirt. Angel looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment and then wrapped his arms around her shaking form and pressed soft kisses into her shining blond hair. The others in the room stared at the two in amazement. For the Weasleys and Hermione it was a shock to see the person they had last known as a hormonal self-conscious teenage boy, so in love and mature. For the Scooby gang it was the first time they had ever really seen how much Angel loved Buffy. They had all known how much she had loved him, that had been painfully obvious during the time when Angel had been moonlighting as his evil other half. Now it was obvious for Xander in particular that he would never have a chance with the slayer. Then he looked at Cordy and smiled. He wasn't sure what he felt about her yet, but he knew now that it was more than he had first imagined. Then, Buffy turned in her lover's arms and smiled sheepishly at the others,

"So, Vegas is seriously overrated. Don't go there. Very smelly. Lots of fledglings with no respect or education to speak of. Half of them didn't even know what a slayer was. I was very disappointed. But then again, so were my parents when they found out I'd been to Vegas."

Then Hermione interrupted,

"I thought that slayers weren't allowed to live with their parents?"

Buffy smiled at her interest, it was obvious that Hermione really was like Willow,

"They're not. Usually slayers are raised and trained by the council, as well as indoctrinated. I was somewhat of an anomaly. I wasn't found out to be a potential slayer and was therefore only found out when I was activated after the slayer before died. Merrick wasn't the most traditional of watchers, he let me live with my parents and attend school. Giles learnt the hard way that I can be rather stubborn. I didn't move to Sunnyhell because of the slaying. I got kicked out of Hemery for burning down the gym and my parents got a divorce. Sunnydale High accepted me and there was somewhere for my mum to start up her gallery. I only accidentally found out that Giles was meant to be my new watcher. Then the master tried to rise and I sort of had to be the slayer. I didn't want to be, but there was never a choice. My mum knows about the slayage, but she still has denial issues."

It was obvious that Hermione was itching to ask Buffy all about slaying and vampires, but didn't want to seem rude. Buffy smiled,

"Look, Hermione, if you want, we'll find a time when we get to your school and I'll tell you everything that I know. Will that be okay?"

Hermione looked overjoyed. The idea of having a private interview with THE SLAYER was a concept that would have amazed any academic. Angel smiled at her enthusiasm, it had been so long for him since he had seen these friends of his, yet they had hardly changed a bit. Maybe they had filled out a little bit, but they were still so young and so innocent. It was the way it was supposed to be. Fifteen year olds were supposed to be like this. They didn't deserve to grow up in a land of fear and hatred. They were innocent and mostly naïve. It was beautiful to see that innocence in anyone. None of the Scooby gang had that. They had lost that innocence when they first killed a vampire. Because, no matter how much of a demon a vampire is, they still were human once. That kind of life is hard to live with. That was probably why most of the inhabitants of Sunnydale lived on the continent of denial. It was easier to pretend it was just gang members on PCP than to accept that there were vampires out there and that they had once been humans, that they had once been your friends.

He knew that it would be difficult for them to understand that he was not the person who he had been two hundred and fifty years ago. Although it had been centuries for him, for them it had been just one summer. Hopefully they would one day come to understand. If they hated him then he deserved it and he didn't deserve Buffy's love and understanding. Especially not after what Angelus had done to her and her friends. It was amazing that they had not killed him on sight. They knew now what he truly had been. If he was alone for eternity then he deserved it, no matter what Buffy said. For him the worst thing was not what he had done but that he had enjoyed it, that the memories of death and torture were some of his best ones.

As if she sensed what he was thinking, Buffy wrapped her arms around his chest once again. Angel couldn't help it. His eyes were drawn to her curve of her neck. He could sense the blood pulsing through her veins. The power in her blood was so strong. He could feel it. He fought the movement, but his face was morphing into that of his inner demons. The Scooby gang reacted immediately, while his old friends gasped. Buffy turned her head to look at him and he tried once again to hide his face. She rose immediately and stared into his demonic yellow eyes. When she spoke, her voice was annoyed,

"Angel, when was the last time you had anything to eat?"

Angel replied after a moment,

"Not since before I got back."

Buffy scowled,

"What were you thinking? No, don't answer that. I'll tell you what. You weren't thinking. I'll get you a bag now and you'd better drink it or so help me I'll-"

What she would do was never to be found out as she had rooted through the bag containing his blood whilst she spoke and now returned carrying one. She threw it at him and stood in front of him, scowling at him until he drank. He opened the bag and began to drink. After a moment, he stopped. Buffy glared at him, but he spoke anyway,

"Buffy, this isn't animal."

Buffy scowled,

"You think I don't know that. There was a regular store of it in the fridges at the mansion. I presumed that they were for Spike when Drusilla forgot to go hunting. They were from the blood bank. It wasn't like I could go into the hospital and say that I found them in a vampire's mini-fridge. It'll help you get strong again, so drink it."

Angel would have argued with her, but he was just too hungry. He turned his attention back to the bag and gulped it down, stopping occasionally to savour the taste of the blood. It had been so long since he had drunk from a human. The taste was infinitely better than pigs' blood could ever be. He had missed this so much. The only thing that was better for a vampire was the blood of either one's sire or the slayer.

Once he had finished the bag, he turned back to the watching Weasleys and Hermione. He was just about to say something, when the door swung violently open. The Scooby gang was on an instant alert. Buffy swung into an impeccable fighting stance, but Angel recognised the human as his godfather. This had been the encounter he had been dreading the most.

Sirius Black raced up the stairs of his family home. He had promised himself that he would never come back here after he had run away, but here he was. At that moment, however, it didn't matter where he was. His godson was back. He raced to the room where he had been told that the younger Weasleys were staying. He swung the door open and gazed onto a shocking tableau.

His godson, who had always looked so much like his father, sat holding a bag that could have only contained human blood. His face, which had always been the perfect mix of James' and Lily's, was warped into the demonic visage of a vampire. Those of demonic amber replaced Lily's beautiful eyes and his canines were extended into vicious fangs, both tainted slightly by tinges of the blood he had just drunk. The petite blond who had attacked Ron when he had been so abusive stood in a perfect fighting stance, one hand grasping a stake and the other wrapped around the handle of a deadly looking silver knife. The others from Sunnydale also stood in fighting positions, holding either stakes or crosses. The Weasleys and Hermione were frozen in their seats.

His godson winced visibly. His face returned to its human form. He no longer looked like his parents. His eyes, Lily's beautiful emerald orbs, were replaced by dark brown eyes. His face had a much more aristocratic slant to it. His hair, which had always been so much like James', was now dark brown and neatly styled with hair gel. He was much taller than Harry had been, much taller than James and Lily. He was solid muscle and there were a few scars on his bared skin. His cheekbones were defined and those of an aristocrat. He carried himself with an air of nobility as he rose from where he sat. There was such terrible guilt and pain in those dark brown eyes. This tormented soul was not his godson. This was someone completely new. Someone he knew nothing about. But, he wasn't completely different. The scar was still there, on Angel's pale forehead. His smile was still Lily's smile, no matter how rare it was. There was still part of who he used to be in that smile and in his tormented eyes.

Angel walked toward him. The blond slayer walked at his godson's side, with her hand on his arm. Sirius smiled. His godson was so obviously in love with her. It was also obvious that the slayer felt the same way. Yet, there was something there. A deeper pain that spoke of a terrible history between the two. Angel stood in front of him then. His posture was tense, as if expecting a physical blow or verbal recrimination. Sirius wrapped his arms around his godson then. And he hugged him. Hard. After a few moments, Angel's arms came up to hug his godfather. Sirius found himself looking over his godson's shoulder then. The blond slayer smiled at him from Angel's side. After a moment, Angel spoke,

"It's really nice to see you too, Sirius. But circulation is becoming a serious issue."

The dark haired boy next to the dark haired girl snorted,

"Dead-boy, you don't have any circulation."

The slayer scowled and Angel spoke then,

"Harris, what have I told you about calling me that?"

The boy, Harris, smirked and his girlfriend hit him around the head, the slayer spoke,

"Xander, shut up."

Angel spoke then,

"Harris. The point is that I would be having circulation issues if I had circulation. It's called a metaphorical situation."

Xander Harris, for that must be the boy's name, scowled,

"Great, dead-boy's got a sense of humour. What bad timing."

Angel sighed and gestured to the fuming slayer that Xander abuse would be amusing but not necessary. Sirius extricated himself from his godson's arms and then looked at him,

"So, have you been to see your aunt and uncle yet?"

Angel groaned slightly, the slayer stared at him,

"You have an aunt and uncle? You didn't tell me this."

Sirius would have sworn that Angel flinched as he spoke,

"Yes, well. I never really got on that well with them."

The slayer scowled,

"Explain."

Angel winced,

"Well, they never really approved of magic. They didn't like my parent s either…"

"And…"

"Well, I grew up in the cupboard under the stairs. But when I was ten they gave me Dudley's second bedroom, which was okay, except they locked me in there second year and put in a cat flap to put my meals through, don't worry about it, I don't really care…"

The slayer was running towards the door, murder obviously on her mind. Angel grabbed her arms and restrained her. It wasn't that anyone would particularly miss the Dursleys, but there were those inconvenient things called laws against murder. Angel shook his head,

"No, the Dursley's don't know I'm back and they won't care. It doesn't matter. I won't be going back there anyway. We'll have to go back to the Hellmouth every holiday so there's no point them knowing. I'll go back to where-ever Buffy has to go once I've dealt with mouldy-voldy. That could present a problem actually. I think Voldemort knew Dru. There's a chance that she'll join him. And where she goes…"

The slayer nodded,

"Yeah, where Dru goes, Spike goes."

Angel nodded and the slayer scowled,

"Damn, I should never let him go."

Angel stared at her,

"You let Spike go?"

Buffy nodded,

"Yeah. He helped me get Giles out and never came back to good old Sunnydale and I wouldn't kill him and Dru."

Angel flinched,

"What can I do for Giles, Buffy?"

The slayer, Buffy, stroked the side of Angel's cheek with her hand. She smiled at him lovingly.

"Giles likes you Angel. He knows that you weren't in control of what Angelus did. And we'll find some way to make sure that he never comes back. You know that we will do that."

Angel shook his head,

"I killed the woman he loved."

Buffy shook her head just as vehemently as he had shaken his,

"That was Angelus and you know that. And I sent you to hell for five hundred years. I think that that's enough suffering to make up for one hundred times everything Angelus ever did. You always got on well enough with Giles and he liked you. You were his friend and he will forgive you. He cares too much about his friends to do anything but and you know it. If anyone's at fault for what Angelus did it's me. I was the one who pressured you. You were willing to wait and I told you not to. It's just as much my fault Angel."

Sirius tried not to think about what it was that the beautiful blonde slayer had pressurised his godson into doing or her statement about five hundred years in hell. Although he had accepted that his godson had changed, no parent likes to think about their child making love or having sex, particularly not with someone who's calling and destiny was to kill all of their kind. It was right up there with thinking about your parents having sex. You had to accept it would happen but you still would rather think about Snape naked.

Angel spoke again,

"I need to get some stuff from Knockturn Alley tonight and then we're off tomorrow. I need to sleep and you need to make lesson plans."

Buffy scowled playfully,

"I need to have a plan. I can't just be pro-active with pep?"

Angel chuckled at that and the innocent expression on the slayer's face.

"Yes, you need a plan. And I need to sleep. I'll see you later tonight, but right now you need to plan."

Buffy scowled again, but nodded her acceptance. Sirius spoke,

"Do you have any particular preference as to where you sleep?"

Angel shook his head,

"Not especially, just lots of pillows and no sunlight."

Buffy smiled and Sirius led his godson to a large room containing a large bed and no windows. He didn't want to think about what Angel would need from Knockturn Alley, but he accepted that it would be necessary.

TBC.


	8. Chapter 8

****

AN: CHAPTER 8 UP. WHAT A WAY TO SPEND A MONDAY. I'M ILL AND I HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM THE COMPUTER. SO I'M WRITING FANFIC ON MY LAPTOP INSTEAD.

DISCLAIMER: I'M A TEENAGE GIRL, ERGO I DON'T OWN EITHER Buffy, ANGEL OR HARRY POTTER. ANY ATTEMPTS TO SUE ME WILL BE LAUGHED AT.

RATING: PG-13

Chapter Eight

When Angel awoke that evening, Buffy was sitting by his side, holding a polystyrene cup containing what smelt like pig's blood. When she saw that he was awake, she passed him the cup and watched as he drained it. As soon as she saw that the cup was empty, she took it from him and gestured for him to get up. She smiled at him and spoke,

"Angel, the sun has set. We have to go to this nocturnally place you were talking about earlier. Oh, and Weasley is a git."

Angel smiled at her as he sat up slowly. He didn't know what Ron had done to earn Buffy's displeasure, but he would not want to be in the young wizard's place at the time when it happened. He rose slowly and almost smiled when Buffy blushed and turned her face away from him. It was beautiful that she was still so innocent in many ways. But she wasn't innocent. That saddened Angel slightly, that Buffy would never be a normal girl again. Angel would give anything to let her have that opportunity, but he knew that she would never be normal. She was the slayer and she would never be able to change that. All Angel could do was make her happy in what normality she had.

When he was up, he searched through his trunks. He groaned slightly. All he had were the leather pants and silk shirts that he had worn as Angelus. He doubted that wearing those would be good for his relationships with the others from Sunnydale. He turned to Buffy,

"Buffy. You wouldn't happen to have packed any of my clothes would you?"

Buffy gave him an extremely strange look and he continued,

"Well, all I've got is Angelus' wardrobe and he's not big on anything other than leather pants and red silk shirts."

Buffy smiled,

"It won't really matter. I didn't particularly want to go back to your apartment after everything. The others won't mind if you explain about your wardrobe. Anyway, I like you in leather trousers."

As Buffy said this last part, she blushed slightly. Angel smiled at her and pulled on a pair of leather trousers and a crimson shirt of crushed red velvet. When he was dressed, he and Buffy left the room and descended the stairs into the large kitchen.

They found all of the Weasleys and Hermione in the kitchen, as well as a few members of the order that Angel did not recognise. The visitors from Sunnydale stood in one corner of the room, as far from the others as possible. Giles was talking quietly with the severe looking witch who Angel had introduced as Professor McGonagall. They all looked up when Angel entered with the slayer. The visitors from Sunnydale stared at Angel's outfit and Cordelia asked, in her typical tactful manner,

"What's with the clothes? You're not going all evil again, 'cos that would like, really suck?"

Angel sighed and Buffy snorted at Cordelia's gift for being completely tactless.

"No, I am just having a shortage of clothes. All I had at the mansion were these and some other things that don't really count as clothes."

Buffy smiled,

"I'm interested."

Angel shrugged,

"No, really you're not. They're a bit on the bizarre side."

Buffy smiled even more,

"Now, you can't say that and not tell me what you mean."

The younger Weasleys also appeared to be slightly interested, so Angel shook his head,

"No, you don't need to know."

Buffy sighed and brought out every female's most powerful weapon. She pouted at Angel and he felt his resolve weakening rapidly,

"Okay, I'll tell you later."

Buffy smiled at him sweetly and the men in the room groaned at how easy it was for women to manipulate them. Angel sighed and turned to his lover,

"How is it you always persuade me to do things like that?"

Buffy smirked at him,

"It's a female thing. We have certain weapons we can use to achieve our aims. Men are powerless against us. They teach us about them in sex ed. Boys get told about contraception and STD's and women are told how to manipulate men into doing whatever we want them to do. It's a gift passed down from generation to generation. It's a mother-daughter bonding activity. Men go fishing and women talk about manipulation."

Angel smiled at her. She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She stood on tiptoes and pressed a light but passionate kiss on his lips. Angel caught her round the waist as she pulled away. He kissed her again and then let her down, pressing feathery kisses into her smooth blonde hair. Buffy turned her face up and smiled at him. Xander spoiled the moment by making gagging noises. Both Cordelia and Willow hit him round the head, but the moment had been ruined. Buffy extricated herself from Angel's grasp and moved to stand by his side instead.

Mrs Weasley entered the room then and smiled benevolently at them all. She gestured to her children to stand and they did. She went over to the fireplace then and took a pot of floo powder from above it. She spoke,

"Mr. Black told me you had some shopping to do, Harry. If your friends want to come with us they are very welcome."

Buffy held tight onto Angel's arm, signalling that he would not be going anywhere without her for quite some time after his reappearance. Cordelia looked intrigued by the idea of wizarding shops and gestured that she would accompany them. Xander shrugged and Willow and Oz also agreed to accompany them. Giles excused himself from his conversation with the Transfigurations professor and indicated that he would follow after his slayer. Fred and George said that they had an errand to run in Diagon Alley and Ron, Hermione and Ginny also agreed to join the party.

They all gathered round the fireplace as Mrs Weasley explained the principals of Floo powder to the visitors from Sunnydale. After they knew what they were to do, Buffy turned to Angel,

"Will you be safe travelling through the fire?"

Angel shrugged,

"I've never tried really. But I don't want to risk it, so I'll just apparate to the Leaky Cauldron and see everyone there."

Fred and George then said that they would apparate as well. It ended up that Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Willow, Xander, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Mrs Weasley would go by floo. Angel had merely suggested that Buffy take floo powder as well and was greeted with such a look as he realised that the chance of him being able to separate himself from Buffy for the next few weeks were very slight. He wasn't particularly annoyed by this fact and explained that he was licensed to do dual apparation.

Those who were to be travelling by floo lined up around the fireplace and took their pinches of the powder. Angel, Fred, George and Buffy all blinked out of sight with a small pop.

They reappeared at the Leaky Cauldron with another pop. Buffy looked around with great interest. Her slayer senses were on high alert. She could feel the magic pulsing in the room. Concentrating hard, she shut down her slayer senses so that she could only sense those that were threats. She felt a pulse of dark magic from one corner of the room and gestured it out to Angel. Angel nodded,

"That's Lucius Malfoy and some of his cronies. They're all Death Eaters."

Buffy scowled,

"Why don't we just go and stop them. They're planning something, I can sense it?"

Angel nodded,

"They most probably are. There's nothing we can do though. Even if we could prove anything, Malfoy's made too many contributions to good causes to get into any real trouble. Anyway, the ministry still doesn't believe that Voldemort's back and is unlikely to take the word of a vampire."

Buffy scowled,

"But aren't you supposed to be some sort of hero here or something?"

Angel shook his head,

"I am. But the media didn't like me last year and that idiot Fudge didn't want to accept the idea of Voldemort being back."

Buffy snorted,

"What about me. I'm the slayer. Won't they believe me?"

Angel sighed,

"If it were anyone else, I would say yes. But Malfoy practically owns the ministry. No we'll get him at a time when he can't deny what he's doing."

Buffy sighed but agreed with him. The four of them walked over to the fireplace and waited as the others appeared. When all of them were accounted for, they walked out of the back door of the Leaky Cauldron and into the yard. When the gateway to Diagon Alley opened, the visitors from Sunnydale hardly flinched. When you lived on the Hellmouth, you saw a lot of this that put a disappearing wall to shame.

They all entered the street and you could see Cordelia was itching to go and look around. Angel smiled and turned to Mrs Weasley,

"Can we go to Gringots quickly please?"

Mrs Weasley nodded,

"Of course, dear. I have your supply list here so you can get your books and other supplies."

Angel thanked her, slightly disturbed a woman who was really younger than him calling him 'dear'. He could Xander laughing behind him and scowled slightly. It would almost be worth going evil again just so that he could torture Harris without feeling any remorse. He doubted he would feel much if he tortured him now, but there was the whole issue of Buffy liking Xander. He'd have to let his torture of Xander remain a popular fantasy.

Mrs Weasley led them all towards the large and imposing façade of the wizarding bank. They entered the well-lit main hall and approached a high marble desk. The goblin looked up from where he was weighing out a pile of rubies the size of hens' eggs. He appeared somewhat shocked when he locked eyes with Angel and stuttered slightly as he asked them what they wanted. Angel placed three small golden keys on the marble surface. He spoke smoothly,

"I want to access these three vaults. The last vault is to accessed by any one of the people with me."

The goblin nodded, still slightly shaken. He summoned another goblin, which he introduced as Grabbler, to lead them to the vaults. They entered two carts, as there were so many of them. The first cart journey took them down to a low-level vault. Angel approached the vault and placed his hand in the centre of the door. Long slim lines of silver light worked their way out from where his hand touched the door. They travelled out to the edge of the door, where they sunk into the stonework. The door slowly swung inwards. Inside the vault there were huge piles of gold galleons and many chests containing priceless antiques. There were paintings stacked against the wall of the vault and many other priceless objects, for example there were wardrobes full of beautiful silk dresses and other clothes, all in perfect condition. Buffy spoke, her voice hushed in awe,

"What is this place?"

Angel smiled sadly,

"This is the O'Connor family vault. I'm the only remaining member of the line. All this is my heritage. This is how I lived for ten years."

Hermione asked then,

"What happened to the rest of the family?"

Angel winced and Buffy turned to glare at Hermione, but Angel stopped her,

"They deserve to know Buffy."

Buffy shook her head vehemently,

"You don't deserve to go through this again."

Angel smiled sadly,

"I can never forget Buffy."

Ron spoke then,

"I get the feeling we're missing something here."

Buffy scowled at him and Angel spoke,

"There are no other members of the O'Connor family because I killed them all as soon as I was turned, along with the entirety of Galway."

Hermione gasped and flushed that she had been the one to bring up what was obviously a very painful subject. Then Buffy saw the coat of arms on one wall of the vault. In the centre of it there was the pattern from the claddagh ring. She turned to Angel,

"Why do you have a coat of arms?"

Angel would have blushed then if it were possible, he settled instead for looking extremely uncomfortable,

"My father was the Duke of Galway. That's the family crest."

Buffy stared at him for a long moment,

"Does that make you a Duke?"

Angel nodded and Buffy squealed and wrapped her arms around him. After a moment, she flushed and pulled away from him. Angel went to one of the stacks of gold and took out a small bag. He filled the bag with coins and placed it back in his duster. They then left the vault and re-entered the carts.

When they reached the second vault, Angel merely placed the key in the lock and opened the door like a normal door. There was less gold in this vault and no antiques or memorabilia. Angel collected some more gold and then quickly re-entered the cart. The last vault was at the very bottom of Gringots. There were human skulls moulded into the door and onto the arc above it. An ornate letter A was carved into the arch and there were demonic letters carved around the door. A black mirror was placed in the very centre of the door itself.

Angel walked up to the door and slipped into game face he walked up to the mirror and spoke clearly,

"I am Angelus. Childe of Darla, childe of Heinrich Joseph Nest, the Master. I wish for access to the vault of the Order of Aurelius. I claim my heritage as the eldest of this line. Grant me entrance into the vault now. Those that accompany me are granted access to the vault as my friends and my mate travels with me."

Giles stared at Angel. He realised that this was the vault of the order of Aurelius. Angel was the eldest of this line. He had just been granted access to the resources of one of the eldest and most powerful vampire clans in the world. The consequences of this, what it might mean to develop the common understanding of vampire traditions.

The door slid open smoothly. The vault inside was lit by torched in sconces decorated with skulls. The amount of money in the vault was astounding. As well as countless gold coins, there were jewels and jewellery. There were shelves and shelves of ancient books, many written in unknown demonic languages. There were paintings and artefacts. Along one wall of the octagonal vault, there were vials and vials of dark blood. There was one huge book, open halfway through. Several of the pages were stained with dark blood. There were lists of names, all hand-written. Many of the names had been crossed out. Angel gestured to them that they were to follow him in.

They slowly entered the room. Buffy went immediately to a huge array of weapons along another wall. Giles went over to the bookcases and gazed in awe at the selection of books he saw there. They were arranged in alphabetical order and many of them were ancient and glowing with magical aura. He turned to the vampire that stood by the entrance,

"Is this where you had the codex?"

Angel nodded,

"Just about every book ever written on demons and demonology is in here. This is the vault of my clan. I cannot touch this money and I would be glad if you would accept to use it. All the resources of this vault are at your constant disposal if you wish it."

Giles nodded dumbly, the connotations of having access to these resources were amazing. He was certain there was more here than in the entirety of the council archives. Buffy lifted a long katana from the rack and gave it an experimental slash through the air. It hummed through the clammy air of the vault.

Angel smiled and went over to one corner of the vault and pulled out a large trunk. It had six locks. Angel brought it over to Buffy and spoke to her,

"This trunk has six different compartments, most of an ordinary size, but one the size of a large room. Put whatever you want in here."

Buffy smiled and went over to the weapons rack once again and chose out some knives and a long sword. She placed them in the trunk and then went and picked out some more weapons, including a selection of deadly looking throwing stars. Giles then went into action. He pulled out almost every other book in the shelf and placed them in another compartment. Willow then followed him over to the shelves and chose scores and scores of books on Wiccan magicks. Xander, Oz and Cordelia merely stood by the door of the vault and watched as the slayer, her watcher and the wicca-in-training rushed around the chamber collecting the things that they were interested in.

Once they were finished, Angel locked the trunk and placed one hand over it. The trunk shrunk to the size of a walnut and Angel pocketed it in his duster. They left the vault and Angel closed the door with similar words as he used to open it. They re-entered the cart and then went to Giles' modest vault. He took some money and they then left the underground tunnels.

They came out into the streets, blinking from the light of the lanterns. Angel then took his list from Mrs Weasley and he and Buffy took off into the shadowy street. The others shook their heads as the two lovers went into the first open shop they came to.

Buffy and Angel entered the robe shop together. Madam Malkin approached them as soon as she saw them, as if sensing that she was about to have two very rich customers buying a whole new wardrobe. Angel spoke before she could,

"We need one set of Hogwarts robes for me and robes for our own use."

Madam Malkin hurried off with her measuring tapes. She returned with swatches of different fabrics for their inspection. Angel's Hogwarts robes were made up very quickly, but it took a long time for Buffy to decide what robes she wanted for teaching in as well as casual wear. They eventually finished and paid for their clothes. They then picked up Angel's books and other equipment. They then left Diagon Alley and went out of the Leaky Cauldron into muggle London. Buffy dragged Angel into countless expensive boutiques and designer shops.

When Buffy had finally satisfied her urges for shopping in what felt to Angel like every shop in London, they re-entered the Leaky Cauldron. Angel led Buffy back into Diagon Alley and then walked towards the entrance to Knockturn Alley. He saw that Buffy was still walking at his side,

"Buffy, why don't you go on ahead to Florean Fortescue's. Order yourself an ice cream and get me some coffee. I'll meet you there as soon as I'm done in Knockturn Alley."

Buffy scowled,

"I can look after myself in this Knockturn Alley place. I mean, I'm the slayer. I've faced a lot scarier things than a couple of wizards. I've had meetings with principal Snyder. I've held people's brains in my bare hands. I've had a puppet try to kill me. I've blown up a blue guy using a rocket launcher. I've died Angel. I can cope with a few wizards."

Angel nodded,

"I know you can, love. But this is something I need to pretend to be Angelus for and turning up with the Slayer won't help that."

Buffy sighed, clearly not happy with what was going to happen but accepting that if Angelus the Scourge of Europe and slayer of slayers turned up with a slayer the shopkeeper wouldn't be easily convinced. So, she let go of Angel and headed towards Florean Fortescue's ice-cream parlour. She sat down outside, so as to be easily visible to Angel and any of the others and also so that she could continue looking around this New World. Florean approached her as soon as she sat down and handed her a menu. She was astounded. She hadn't known half of these flavours of ice cream existed. She gave a prayer of thanks for the advanced metabolism of the slayer and ordered a little bit of every flavour except rhubarb. She also ordered herself a butterbeer, after being shocked to discover that they didn't serve diet coke or any other type of coke. When Angel arrived ten minutes later, she ordered him a large cup of very strong coffee.

They sat there for a long time. They talked together for all the time they were together. They laughed together as Buffy told Angel about how she had spent her day with the Weasleys. Angel told her more about what he had done at Hogwarts and about his life in Galway. Buffy told him about her childhood in LA and what she had done in her first few weeks as the slayer.

After a time, the others joined them there. Cordelia was carrying many bags from boutiques up and down Diagon Alley. When she saw that Buffy was carrying bags from Bloomingdale's, she groaned that she hadn't thought of going out into London. Xander was carrying most of her bags, as was a man's task in life. They sat down and ordered coffee and ice cream then and talked together for a while. After a time, Ron and Hermione became tired and Mrs Weasley ordered them all to return to Grimmauld place and get some sleep before they went off to Hogwarts the next day.

Reluctantly, the group from Sunnydale returned to Grimmauld place along with the Weasleys and Hermione. Mrs Weasley sent her charges to bed, but the others said that they stayed up late to patrol anyway so they didn't normally need much sleep. Angel and Buffy needed less than anyone did. After they had explained this, they went to explore the large house. After some time, they came across a large room with a lot of open space in it. After asking if they could use it, Buffy set it up to train in. Buffy trained for a time with her watcher, but then Angel interrupted the fight, or rather, interrupted Giles desperately trying to make sure he didn't get too injured.

"Giles, I'm a bit out of shape. Would you mind if I sparred with Buffy for a while?"

Giles shook his head,

"Go ahead. I'll just sit here and wait for feeling to return to my limbs."

Angel smirked at Buffy,

"So, what's it going to be?"

Buffy smirked back at him,

"Quarter-staffs."

Angel nodded and went to collect two from the weapons chest they had placed by one wall. He tossed one to Buffy and they began to spar. Oz, Xander, Cordelia, Willow and Giles watched as the two trained together. They matched each other perfectly. There was very little difference in their skills. It was like watching a deadly dance. They circled each other, so in tune with themselves that they could easily predict what the other was about to do. They didn't tire but they started to work up a sweat like Buffy never did when she was working with Giles. They realised that only Angel and Faith even posed a challenge to Buffy's considerable skills. When the match finally finished, Buffy emerged the victor, pinning Angel to the floor. They had discarded their staffs much earlier and were fighting fist to fist. Buffy dropped onto the ground and spun her legs around. She knocked Angel from his feet and then pressed onto his chest before he could move.

Applause came from the doorway. Sirius and Remus and a few other order members had come to watch the fight. Buffy jumped to her feet and offered her hand to Angel, he spoke then

"You were holding back."

It was not an accusation or a question, merely a statement of fact. Buffy shrugged,

"What can I say, you're out of practise."

Angel mock-glared at her,

"Yeah, well. Hell was less about the working out and more about the running as fast as possible in the other direction."

Buffy flinched,

"Oh, God. Angel, I'm so sorry. There must have been another way."

Angel shook his head,

"You know that there was no other way, Buffy."

Buffy nodded weakly and wrapped her arms around him, a gesture that reassured both of them that the other was really there and not just another dream or illusion sent to torment them. Then Sirius spoke from the doorway,

"Hell?"

All those from Sunnydale flinched, Giles spoke so that neither Angel nor Buffy had to,

"It's a very long story."

Sirius was not deterred; he fixed his godson with the steely glare of parental doom,

"How long where you there?"

Angel sighed,

"I was away for two months. Time is different there though. I was there for the equivalent of five hundred years in this dimension."

The wizards stared at him and Buffy choked on a sob. Finally Remus asked the question that was on all of their minds,

"How did you get there?"

Giles made as if to change the subject, but Buffy spoke before he could,

"I sent him there."

The order members gasped. They had thought that the two were in love, yet the slayer had sent Angel to hell for five hundred years. Angel spoke then,

"She had no choice. I was trying to pull the entire world into Acathla's hell dimension. It was her duty to stop me and the only way was with my blood."

Now the order members were staring at Angel in fear, a black skinned man with an earring asked the question that they were all thinking,

"Why?"

Angel flinched and neither he nor Buffy looked ready to explain, so Giles took it upon himself to explain as best he could.

"I trust you are all aware of how Angel regained his soul in 1898. The gypsy curse had a loophole. If Angel were ever to experience a moment of true happiness, then he would lose his soul once again. Angel experienced this true happiness and became Angelus once more. Some time after he lost his soul; he tried to open the portal into Acathla's realm. Buffy went to stop him whilst Willow attempted the spell to put Angel's soul back. She succeeded, but not before the portal was opening. Buffy was forced to send Angel to hell. He only recently returned within the last few days."

Now everyone was staring at the red-haired Wiccan sitting with her friends and boyfriend. Remus spoke again,

"You successfully managed to return a soul to its body?"

Willow was very uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting, but she managed to nod that, yes, she had returned a vampire his soul. Remus spoke again,

"What else can you do?"

Willow didn't understand the attention, but answered anyway,

"You know, the usual. I can do a bit of summoning and contacting the spirit realm is quite easy now. I can do glamours. Levitating feathers. Fire out of ice. You know. Basic stuff. I can control two of the elements and I'm working on the other two. Also, there's that thing with sage and virgin's saliva that I'm not supposed to know how to do. I've decided against trying love spells after what happened with the one Amy did."

They stared at her and then Sirius asked,

"I probably don't want to know, but what happened with the love spell Amy did?"

Xander flushed and Willow began to tell the tale with relish and just the slightest bit of babbling,

"Well, Xander had just started going out with Cordelia. But he thought she didn't care about him. So, he went to Amy and asked her to do him a love spell. But, it didn't quite work out the way he intended it to. See, every woman in Sunnydale, except Cordelia, fell madly and passionately in love with him. Including Buffy's mom and Drusilla, though out of those two I don't know which one's more disturbing a concept. So, no love spells for me."

Angel snorted,

"I wondered what was going on that day. Drusilla was most put out afterwards. She was still quite attracted to you, always was apparently. Spike was most annoyed."

Xander groaned and buried his head in Cordelia's shoulder,

"That one was of the experiences in my life I try and forget about, along with what I did when I was possessed by those Hyenas and ate a raw pig, among other things."

This time, Willow and Buffy turned on Xander,

"I thought you couldn't remember what happened then?"

Xander flushed and swore under his breath,

"Yes, well, I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said I was guessing?"

He took one look at the expressions on the faces of Buffy and Willow and sighed,

"Okay, I knew what happened. Can we please move on from embarrassing Xander now?"

Angel shook his head,

"No, do continue. I'm finding this most entertaining."

Xander groaned and Buffy explained with delight.

"Well, Xander and these other kids got themselves possessed by these Hyenas when we went on a field trip to the zoo. He started out just acting like an idiot and sniffing me a lot. Then he and the rest of the pack decided that sausages were over-cooked and they were going to have something a little more rare. Principal Flutie had just got this pig as the school mascot, so, they went and ate Harvey. Then Xander went from acting like an idiot to acting like an utter pig-headed bastard and attempted to act on his animal desires. I knocked him out and shut him in the library cage while the rest of the pack ate the principal; thus we had the attack of the horrible Snyder monster. We managed to get him all un-possessed but he claimed he couldn't remember a thing."

By this point Xander was the colour of an embarrassed beetroot. Angel tried hard not to laugh and took out a small notebook and a pen from the pocket of his duster. Angel quickly wrote in it and then closed it. Buffy asked,

"What's in the notebook?"

Angel smirked,

"This is my book of things to torment Xander with."

Buffy laughed,

"Can I see?"

Xander signalled hastily that Angel should not show the book to Buffy, but he did. Buffy opened it and started to laugh. She leafed through the notebook and was amused to see that it was over half full already. When she had finished, she passed it round to Cordelia, Oz, Giles and Willow and they took their turns. When they were finished, Willow turned to Angel,

"I have loads more, though I didn't know half of these, particularly some of the ones about Dru. If you want, I'll make a general contribution. Like that time when the anointed-one kidnapped Cordelia because they wanted to bring the Master back to life. Well, we got sent this ransom rock. We were told that Buffy had to go to the Bronze before it opened or they'd make Cordelia a meal. Well, Xander asked if they were going to make her dinner. It was classic."

They all cracked up. Xander glared,

"Traitors. Just remember I was the one who found out where they were keeping you."

Buffy laughed then and said,

"No, Xander. That was me. I put my cross in that vampires mouth and persuaded her to tell us. You just threatened to kill me."

The others laughed again, though the order members seemed slightly disturbed by the idea of putting a cross into a vampire's mouth and the death threats. Xander snorted,

"Yes, well. It was the evening after that dance. What did you expect?"

Buffy blushed this time but managed to mostly keep her cool,

"Promises of being my eternal slave."

They all laughed. Memories like these were the only things that kept them sane while living on the hellmouth. That was probably why Xander made so many jokes. If they could laugh for a while then they could pretend that they weren't fighting the forces of evil on a daily basis. They had to accept death and therefore they made jokes. Xander then came up with his ultimate defence,

"Well, if it weren't for me the judge would still be in one piece, not several thousand."

Buffy snorted,

"Xander, that was 'cos you spent Halloween running around shooting everyone you saw."

Xander scowled,

"Well, at least I didn't faint every time I saw a car and complain about the 'low apparel' I was wearing."

Buffy glared at him and then Willow interrupted the fight before it could go any further,

"Well, at least you too didn't have the problem of passing through everything you touched. It made research very difficult."

Buffy and Xander shrugged, admitting defeat in the face of the girl who had been turned into a ghost for Halloween. Then Cordelia decided that she wanted in on the taking the piss out of Xander contest,

"Angel, did you know that looking at linoleum makes Xander want to have sex?"

Xander groaned, while the others laughed. Sirius looked at them and said with conviction,

"I really, really don't want to know."

Remus looked hard at Oz then and Oz rose from where he sat by Willow. The two circled each other, sizing each other up. They were growling softly. Then Remus nodded curtly and sat down. Oz turned away and returned to his seat by Willow. Sirius turned to his friend and asked,

"What was that all about?"

Remus grunted,

"He's an alpha."

Sirius stared at Oz,

"You're a werewolf?"

Oz grunted,

"Yes."

Then Tonks, who had also come to watch, spoke,

"So, what was with the testosterone display?"

Remus groaned and answered her,

"Politics. I'm beta, he's alpha. He was asserting his dominance. It's complicated."

Oz interrupted,

"Alpha's are more powerful than betas and kill any who don't agree with their rule. It was my right."

Remus sighed,

"Apparently not that complicated."

Willow was staring at Oz,

"Okay. One, you're a dom. Two, wasn't that your entire ration of syllables for the next month or something. Not that I mind. I like it when you talk. It's just you're not big on talking usually. I don't mind that either. I like it when you're quiet. And you're supposed to stop me when I do this."

Oz almost smiled,

"Yeah, well. I like it when you do that."

Willow smiled at him

"I know. Still interested in the alpha male part."

Xander interrupted,

"Okay. We're getting way too close to PDA and TMI."

Sirius decided that now was as good a time as any to get to know his godson's friends. The other members of the order had left to go to bed or on missions and he sat down and asked,

"So what do you guys do?"

They smiled. Buffy started them off,

"I slay. That's about it. I don't do research or anything. They just tell me what to kill and when and I go out and do the slayage."

Angel continued,

"I help with the slaying, and brood, and stalk and make cryptic comments whilst handing out free jewellery."

Giles snorted and made his own contribution,

"I read books and stuff. I make plans and do a bit of magic when required."

Willow smiled,

"Again with the magic and the books. But I also do all the Internet hacking."

Oz almost smiled,

"I smell stuff, occasionally help preparing spells and do fetch and carry. I also make a nice show piece in the library three nights a month."

Xander snorted self-deprecatingly,

"I make smart comments and fetch doughnuts and rocket launchers."

Cordelia laughed,

"I help with the research and act as bait."

Xander added on to the end of this,

"She also cheerleads. It's amazing what a busy life she leads."

Sirius stared at the group. They were just plain weird. Maybe bordering on insane or psychopathic. But hey, he wasn't the sanest person on the planet either. Dolores Umbridge was not going to know what hit her. If only he weren't a wanted fugitive then he could be there to see it. Such a shame.

TBC.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: SUMMER VACATION HAS FINALLY ARRIVED AND I NOW HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO ALL THE WRITING I DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO DURING THE TERM TIME. I NOW HAVE OVER FIFTY REVIEWS SO AM WILLING TO WRITE MY NINTH CHAPTER. WATCHED CHOSEN ON SATURDAY AND HAVE ALMOST BEEN CONVERTED TO SPUFFY INSTEAD OF Buffy/ANGEL. THE KEY WORD THERE BEING ALMOST. WATCHED SHREK 2 YESTERDAY AND HAD MUCHOS LAUGHS BECAUSE OF THIS. WAITING IMPATIENTLY FOR SPIDEY TWO TO HIT THE BIG SCREENS. AM RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO SAY IN MY NOTE NOW SO WILL CONTINUE WITH DISCLAIMER AND CHAPTER.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT AND NEVER WILL. I AM NEITHER JOSS WHEDON OR J K ROWLING. IF I WERE EITHER OF THESE PEOPLE MY LAPTOP WOULDN'T BE RUNNING ON WINDOWS 98. ALSO MY TV WOULD HAVE A USB PORT SO I COULD WATCH DVDS WITHOUT WIRING THE DVD PLAYER THROUGH MY VIDEO PLAYER. I HAVE NO MONEY AND THIS MUCH WILL BE GIVEN TO ANY WHO ATTEMPT TO SUE ME.

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R IN PLACES

Chapter Nine

Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair at the head of the great table in the Hogwarts great hall. He had listened to the speech of Dolores Umbridge with great annoyance. He had expected it, of course, but it was still aggravating to know how much the ministry would be controlling Hogwarts that term.

He watched the Gryffindor table with interest. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger sat at one end of the table. They were talking quietly, ignoring the questions of the other students about the whereabouts of the last member of the golden trio. He hoped that Mr Weasley would come to accept the changes in his best friend. He had not yet announced the appointment of the new teachers and the visitors from Sunnydale.

The slayer and her companions had decided that they would all arrive with Angel. They were to take a port-key to Hogsmeade and then walk up to the school. It was decided that it would be best if all the surprises were given at once. Professor Dumbledore was feeling slightly malicious about Dolores Umbridge and could not wait for her reaction to the visitors. The idea of muggles at Hogwarts would be highly controversial. However, the respect and fear that the slayer was held in would quell most of the voices at the ministry. Albus himself was slightly afraid of the small blond. When he had first met her, he would not have suspected her to be the infamous slayer, however, when he had seen her fight and talk, he knew just how strong a person she was, as well as a fighter of unusual calibre.

He stood up then, and gestured for silence. After this had been achieved, he spoke,

"I have an announcement to make. As I am sure that you know, Harry Potter disappeared from his Aunt and Uncle's house. We carried out extensive searches for him ever since his disappearance. A few days ago, we managed to find out where he was and what happened to him. He has returned to Hogwarts with us and, despite a few changes, will be continuing his education. He was pulled through a rip in the space time continuum, which has dramatically altered his appearance, as well as causing him to age ten years before he could return here."

A great clamour filled the room and Dumbledore was forced to lift his hand for silence before he could continue speaking,

"While he was away, Mr Potter made the acquaintance of Miss Buffy Summers. You may or may not be aware of Miss Summer's true identity. I dare say many of you may have heard of the vampire slayer. Miss Summers is the slayer in this generation. She started a relationship with Mr Potter and has agreed to return here with him. Due to this desire, she has agreed to teach a new class, physical defence. As well as her watcher, a few of her friends have accompanied her. One of these is a mostly untrained Wicca of amazing potential. Three others will be with them and attending classes with the fifth year due to their friendship with Mr Potter and their lack of magical training. Physical defence will be a compulsory class for all years and there will also be extra voluntary sessions on weekends and during some evenings during the school week."

A great clamour filled the hall at this announcement, the students rapidly talking about meeting The Slayer. The person sitting nearest to them quickly informed those who didn't know what the slayer was. The Gryffindor table was the loudest by proxy, but the other houses made their fair share of noise. Even the more reticent Slytherins made enough noise of their own, though what they said might not have been exactly complimentary. It seemed that the presence of the slayer would be enough to distract the students from changes in Mr Potter. Then a question was shouted from the Gryffindor table,

"Will the guests be staying in the tower along with Harry?"

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head,

"No, neither will Mr Potter be residing in the tower with you. Due to some of the changes he over-went during what has been for him ten years, he will be staying in quarters with the slayer and the other visitors. He will also not be able to be a member of the Gryffindor quidditch team ever again unless his research makes significant progress."

There were groans from the Gryffindor table at this answer and many questions began to be asked about Harry's 'condition' and why he could no longer sleep in the dorm or play quidditch. Fortunately, Dumbledore was saved from answering them by the timely opening of the huge doors to the great hall.

When Albus Dumbledore said opening, he was being polite about what happened. The doors almost swung off their hinges as the slayer and her vampire lover strode into the hall. They walked together, their steps perfectly matched. They were dressed in the same fashion, obviously wearing clothes to intimidate the students. They both wore black leather trousers and long black dusters. Each of them had a long sword strapped to their hip. Angel wore a crushed velvet shirt the colour of dark blood. Buffy wore a black leather top styled like a corset. Angel's hair was spiked up messily to reveal the lightening bolt scar on his forehead and Buffy's was uncharacteristically braided into hundreds of tiny braids that hung loose down the back of her duster. Both of the lovers wore black army boots and the handles of knives poked out of the top of the boots, as well two strapped to each leg. The two looked deadly, to put it as simply as possible.

Whereas before the hall had been filled with questions and exclamations, now it was completely silent. There was not even a whisper as the two stalked up to the head table. They walked softly and silently, like great dark predators stalking their prey. The two took seats at the darkest end of the table and waited in the heavy silence. Finally, Dean Thomas' voice from the Gryffindor table broke the silence,

"Bloody Hell."

All heads turned now to stare at the embarrassed fifth year. Buffy and Angel smirked slightly. They were not intending to spend the entire year like this, but it was important that the students and staff understood just how dangerous they could be. This display would hopefully avert any unfortunate accidents or pranks. There was a thud as Neville Longbottom collapsed in his seat and fell with a thump to the floor of the hall. If Angel had been capable of doing so, he would have blushed, however he could not and Buffy understood the importance of this warning and therefore restrained herself.

Angel, however, did allow himself a small smile as Hermione rose, all-business, and muttered a quick and authoritative 'Enervate'. A blushing Neville returned to his seat. The event had broken the ice. Whispers broke up in the hall like grass fires. Even the normally aloof Slytherins allowed themselves the sheer pleasure of mindless gossip. The look on Draco Malfoy's face was most puzzling. It showed neither malice nor fear, merely a calculating curiosity that could prove to be far more dangerous than the other two could ever be. Malfoy was not in Slytherin just because of his blood, he was cunning, ambitious and wanted to know as much as possible to gain himself any possible advantage. He was also remarkably intelligent, although not as bookish as Hermione.

At that moment, Angel's musings were cut off as the others from Sunnydale entered. Giles had abandoned his customary tweed for some expensive looking robes of midnight black. The dignified Englishman looked just at home amongst the tables and Angel hit himself for not identifying him as of wizarding blood sooner.

Willow looked splendid in robes of a dark emerald green. Angel's unbeating heart twinged slightly as he saw the redhead. Willow looked so much like his own mother. Perhaps that was why he had always like her so much. The modest witch seemed very uncomfortable with all the attention and burrowed as much into Oz as was possible.

Oz himself looked just like Oz. His hair was coppery-red that day. He had grown his goatee back and looked fairly adult. He wore forest green robes and seemed slightly uncomfortable. A mental check told Angel that it was only a few nights since the full moon and Oz would still be slightly jittery because of it.

If Angel hadn't been desperately in love with Buffy, he would have been gobsmacked by Cordelia. The young cheerleader had been annoyed by the prospect of such concealing robes, but had managed to do her best to overcome the problem. Her dark hair was pulled up into a French twist off her head. She wore minimal make-up, only a hint of blush, a shimmer of pale lip-gloss and the merest brush of pastel blue eye shadow. Her robes were a radiant purple and of an expensive design. The elegant silver chain of the necklace Xander had given her glimmered around her slender neck.

Even Xander had risen admirably to the occasion. Angel had a feeling that if it weren't for Xander's feelings for Buffy, he would have liked the boy. He was cynical and sarcastic, with a sharp wit and a dry sense of humour. And his actions when Buffy had gone to face the Master showed much loyalty and bravery that he tried to conceal. His fashion sense, however, left much to be desired. Cordelia had obviously informed him what to wear. He was dressed in dark blue robes of a fairly simple cut that managed to look fairly respectable on the teen whose clothing normally screamed out for attention from the fashion paramedics instead of police.

Angel received a stiff nod from the others as they seated themselves. Angel knew it would be a long time before they would ever trust him again, let alone talk to him. He did not question their anger and knew that it was deserved for what Angelus had done to these five. Only Willow smiled at him and he suspected that was because she was in a similar situation with her boyfriend. It is hard to hate even a vampire when one's own boyfriend is a soulless monster with a voracious appetite three nights of the month. Oz, also, seemed to nod at him. It was hard to tell with the werewolf. He guessed that the teen felt a connection through the fact that both of them were cursed with something they could never be cured of. Angel felt respect for the young werewolf. So many werewolves simply gave in to the beast inside and became beasts all of the time. Yet this young man was barely out of childhood, yet he resisted the nature of the beast he was at the full moon. He himself had been twenty-five when he was turned and had made no effort to resist the evil that was so obvious in Darla.

Angel paid little attention to the rest of whatever it was that Professor Dumbledore was saying. He merely talked with Buffy and ate some of the food in front of him, trying to remember what it had tasted like when he was human. Buffy soon entered a discussion with Willow and Cordelia about something that he knew nothing about. It was obviously an exclusively female subject, as Oz, Xander and Giles looked just as confused as he felt. He decided now was a good time to broach a subject he wanted to talk to Giles about, softly he asked,

"May I have a word with you for a moment Giles?"

Giles looked confused and slightly suspicious. However, he nodded shortly and he left the hall with the vampire. When they were out in the entrance hall, Angel began to speak,

"I cannot apologise enough for what I did. Nor can I ever make up for it. However, I have something I would like to give you."

He reached into the pocket of his duster and brought out the package he had purchased from Knockturn Alley the previous day. He unwrapped it and handed its contents to Giles.

"This is the only remaining amulet of Sudapesh. Sudapesh was a seer and diviner. He was gifted with the ability to contact any spirit he wished. He made ten amulets that let the wearer commune with any dead soul that they wished to. The other nine have been lost. I tracked this one down to a shop in Knockturn Alley. The shopkeeper did not know what it was, selling it merely as a trinket. If you wear it around your neck, you can talk to any spirit of your choice. I thought you may wish to use it to talk with Miss Calendar."

Giles stared at him in amazement. Angel closed the watcher's slack fingers around the amulet and made to sweep back into the hall. However, Giles spoke,

"I cannot accept this. Surely you wish to talk to your parents…"

Angel shook his head.

"I cannot talk to them. I would not be worthy. Use it if you wish. I can only hope to begin to repair the damage I have done to all of you."

"Angel. You have no idea how much this means to me…"

"I do, Rupert. I spent five hundred years wishing to hear Buffy's voice. I deserved my punishment and that separation. You did not deserve to lose what you had. I hope this will help you. I do not deserve it and I do not deserve Buffy's love."

"Buffy never ceases to amaze me, Angel. She loves you entirely. She was not the same after you were gone. I am glad you are back, even if only for her sake. You complete the person that she is. I hope that the two of can find a way to be together."

Angel smiled softly,

"I love her."

Giles sniffed slightly,

"Hurt her and you'll fit in an ash-tray within the minute."

Angel smiled wryly,

"I would expect no less. I would never hurt Buffy again."

Giles nodded and there was an uncomfortable silence for a while, then Angel spoke,

"You know how to use the amulet I presume?"

Giles started, but nodded that he did know. Angel smiled slightly then turned to re-enter the hall,

"Good. Now, we should go back into the hall before anybody thinks we have killed each other."

Giles smiled,

"That wouldn't do."

Angel nodded,

"Buffy would be furious."

Giles agreed,

"Yes, then she would probably resurrect us both so that she could lecture us and then kill us herself."

Both men winced at the image of a pissed off Buffy and quickly returned into the hall.

Buffy looked up as the two men she loved more than anything else entered the hall together, both in one piece. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding as her watcher and her lover approached the high table. If Angel was starting to make his piece with the people that Buffy cared about that was good. It also seemed that Giles was on his way to forgiving, which meant that the others might accept Angel again.

Angel returned to his seat quickly, feeling the eyes of the entire hall on him and Giles. Buffy smiled at him when he sat, a sight that never failed to make his stomach clench up and his unbeating heart clench. She then handed him his goblet and nodded at him to drink. He gave her a strange look before smelling the fresh pig's blood in the golden goblet. She stared at him and made sure that he drank every drop. When she was certain he had drained the cup, only then was he allowed to return to a conversation on arcane volumes with Giles.

Buffy did not like the feast. She was uncomfortable in being in such an open position where anyone might attack. All the magic in the air was messing with her slayer-senses and she didn't like the way that everyone was staring at them. She missed Sunnydale, where she could hide out in the library and observe people instead of being observed.

Angel felt her tension and reached under the table with one hand. She felt his hand and grasped it with her own. Angel squeezed her hand slightly and she smiled at him. She had almost forgotten how he could sense what she was feeling. Almost.

Eventually the torturous dinner was over. Dumbledore dismissed the hall with a few words. Those from Sunnydale left the hall together. They went down a long corridor towards the dungeons. They stopped outside the portrait of a young wizard with dark hair and brown eyes. If it were possible, Angel would have blushed. Xander snorted,

"Wonderful, if it weren't enough to have to live with Dead-boy, we get his face on the door."

Angel scowled at him half-heartedly. He could not remember when this portrait had been done and he spoke to his painted image,

"When were you painted?"

The portrait scowled back at him and answered grumpily,

"1745. Are you going to decide on a password now?"

Angel scowled right back at his portrait. He could hear the others laughing slightly and growled under his breath. He then spoke a password that none of them would ever forget,

"Harris is a hyena."

The others laughed while Xander blushed and scowled. It was an interesting combination of expressions. It made him look like a pissed off tomato. The portrait on the wall laughed as well and swung sideways to reveal a doorway. They pushed the door open and went into the main room of their quarters.

The room was large and attractive. It was decorated in dark blue. The floor was of a dark wood. There were no portraits on the walls as Angel had requested. The portraits talked. If word got out of any of the things that would be discussed within this room, there would be trouble for everyone.

This main room was laid out as a living area. There were several large couches upholstered in a slightly darker shade of blue than the wallpaper. Also, there were a number of similarly decorated armchairs arranged around the large grate, where a fire crackled merrily, casting a warm glow over the entire room. Several low mahogany coffee tables were positioned around the room. On one of the tables there was an ornate chess set. A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling and other candlesticks glowed softly from their sconces in the walls. There were several large windows with solid shutters that could easily be opened or closed. The ceiling of the room was charmed to appear like the sky as in the great hall. Part of the room was set up as a dining area. There was a large mahogany dining table with seats for eight. Three other doors led out of this main room.

The first door proved to open onto a small room with two other doors on the opposite wall. Each of these doors opened onto a palatial marble bathroom. The second door from the main room led into a large room obviously designed to be a training and workout room. Another door led from here into a library that sent Giles and Willow into paroxysms of geeker-joy. The last door led into a long corridor with seven other doors leading off it. They could only assume that these were the bedrooms. Before any scuffles over bedroom choices could begin, Giles noted that a name was inscribed on a panel on each door. Exchanging a few final pleasantries, they entered their own rooms.

Buffy sighed as she looked around the room she had been given. There was nothing wrong with the room; in fact it was a beautiful room, decorated in dark red with large windows overlooking the lake. Yet, she was restless. She had arranged and re-arranged all of her clothes and belongings, finalised her lesson plans for the next three weeks, sharpened her broadsword to a deadly edge and carved over twenty new stakes. But she was bored and twitchy. She had not realised how much of an outlet slaying was for her. The magic from Hogwarts was messing with her senses. She was also finding herself slightly missing the comfort of the regular threat of an imposing apocalypse.

She knew what she needed to do. She needed to train. If she could not kill anything, then she may as well do the next best thing and practise beating people into a bloody pulp. Maybe she could study watcher diaries or something with Giles if she had nothing else to do. Well, she wasn't quite that desperate.

She left her room and padded softly down the corridor. She entered the large main room. All the others, except Angel, were gathered there. Cordelia was reading Cosmopolitan as she painted her toenails. Xander was eating double filled oreos and flicking through a batman comic. Willow, Giles and Oz were having a chess tournament by the fire and Willow seemed to be slightly disturbed by the brutality of wizarding chess.

Not wanting to disturb them, she crossed the room silently and entered the training room in search of Angel. The training room was also empty, but a light shone from the crack under the door to the library. She entered the library and found Angel there. He had closed all the shutters and sat in a window seat with a huge pile of books by his feet. He rapidly searched through each one in an attempt to find what he was looking. Sensing as she was entering the room, he looked up at her and cleared a space for her on the window seat. Buffy joined him there and turned to look at him,

"What is it?"

Angel smiled wearily and answered her,

"This used to be the closest thing I had to a home. The Dursleys were no family. Even when I was alive in Galway, this was the only place where I felt I truly belonged. For years after I was curse I imagined returning here. I hoped that they might be able to help me. But I never came back. I was sure I didn't deserve that redemption. But I would not have returned if you didn't want to come with me. This isn't my home any more. I doubt I truly have one now. I only have you Buffy. I want to find a way round the clause as soon as possible."

Buffy half smiled, half sobbed. She wrapped her arms around her undead lover and buried her blonde head in his firm chest. The two remained like that as they slept, finally at peace together, and for the first time in forever, neither one of them were disturbed that night by nightmares. They made an attractive picture. The two of them wrapped protectively around each other. Buffy's light head touching Angel's dark hair. Both of them were silhouetted black against the silver moonlight that shone from the ceiling.

That was how Xander found them the next morning. They were curled up together in the spacious window seat, Buffy's head on Angel's broad chest and his dark head resting on her honey-golden locks. Even in sleep Angel was protective of her, his arms were wrapped firmly around her deceptively slim and fragile-looking form. For the first time since Buffy had returned from wherever the hell she had been when she had left, she looked at peace.

He was tempted to leave the two of them like that, lying safe in each other's arms. But the rest of them had already eaten their breakfast and it was more than time for them to be heading to classes. This was where problems arose. He knew from experience that it was not a good idea to wake a slayer. Having never woken Angel up, he didn't know how the vampire would react, but the experiences with Angelus didn't make him want to find out. Finally he decided to wake Angel and ask him to wake Buffy. Standing at a safe distance from the two, he said,

"Angel, Dead-boy. It's time to get up and smell the education."

One of Angel's eyes opened a crack and Xander could have sworn that the vampire groaned and muttered something about not wanting to go to school. There was something extremely entertaining about a two hundred and fifty-year-old complaining about going to school. But the vampire was awake now and he gently shook Buffy so that she was too. Buffy was awake instantly, on the alert for any threat. She blushed when she saw Angel and Xander looking at her. The slayer jumped from the lap of her lover and brushed down the front of her leather pants. She looked at Xander and asked,

"How long do we have?"

Xander groaned slightly before he answered,

"First class begins in half an hour. And the fun begins then."

Angel was the one to ask the question now,

"Why?"

Xander quirked an eyebrow,

"Well. I assume you know that we have to follow you around and take your classes with you and a bunch of fifteen year olds?"

Angel groaned,

"I'm trying to forget about that."

Xander continued with malicious glee,

"Well. From what you have told us about Gryffindor-Slytherin relations, any class with them should be interesting."

Angel winced,

"Please tell me we don't have potions with Snape first thing this morning?"

Xander shook his head,

"No, it's better. We have a whole hour with the Slytherins being taught self-defence by The Vampire Slayer."

This time it was Buffy who interrupted,

"You guys are my first class? God, is this some form of punishment for that lipstick?"

Xander was interested now,

"What lipstick?"

Buffy blushed and cursed herself for mentioning it. She knew that Xander wouldn't shut up until he knew the answer, so she told him,

"I shoplifted a lipstick from Macy's when I was in LA. My parents found out and made me take it back. It was the first thing to go on my record. This was before my days of arson and being acquainted with people who shoot themselves through the head. And then there was that whole thing about being wanted for murder."

Buffy walked towards the door then and said,

"I'm going to have a shower and get ready for my first day as a teacher. So, from now on, it's Professor Summers to you lot."

With that, she sashayed out of the room, letting the door close behind her with a small bang. As one, Xander and Angel turned towards each other and shrugged at the insanity of the female gender. It didn't matter how old men were; they would never understand the mystery that is the woman.

When Buffy re-entered the room, she saw that she was the last one there. Giles was sitting by the fireplace reading an antediluvian looking tome on the history of some amulet or another. Willow and Oz were dressed in their school uniforms, although Oz still managed to make his uniform look scruffy. Cordelia and Xander had seized the moment to lay on one of the sofas making out. Buffy straightened her black jogging pants and white crop top. She then pulled a pair of black robes over the top. She turned to Angel and almost laughed. He scowled,

"Yeah, laugh if you want."

She couldn't help it. Angel was dressed in his school uniform. The four visitors from Sunnydale simply wore plain black robes without any crest or adornment, but Angel wasn't that lucky. Angel had been forced to abandon his leather trousers and silk shirts for a pair of grey cotton pants and a starched white shirt with a red and gold tie and grey scratchy jumper. Over this he wore black robes adorned with a garish red and gold crest emblazoned with a roaring golden lion. It wasn't that he looked bad, it was just that it was not his style. The schoolboy look just didn't work on anyone who had celebrated a bicentennial.

Out of respect for Angel's feelings, she mostly suppressed her laughter. She held out her arm for him and asked,

"Shall we?"

In the manner of the 18th century gentleman he had been raised to be for many years, he replied as he took her arm,

"We shall, my lady."

TBC.


	10. Chapter 10

****

AN: CHAPTER TEN UP NOW. THIS WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST UPDATE FOR A WHILE, AS I AM GOING TO FLORIDA FOR A FORTNIGHT FROM SUNDAY. MY PARENTS HAVE BANNED THE PACKING OF MY LAPTOP AND I THEREFORE MUST CONTENT MYSELF WITH THE ENTERTAINMENT PROVIDED BY ALL THE THEME PARKS WE WILL BE STAYING NEAR. THE ONLY THING I REGRET IS ALL THE Buffy I WILL PROBABLY BE MISSING WHILE I AM THERE. HANG ON, I CAN WATCH IT ON THE CABLE TV IN OUR VILLA IN KISSIMMEE AND THEN OUR APARTMENT ON THE GULF COAST, YAY FOR ME AND CABLE TV.

DISCLAIMER: I AM ACTUALLY LETTING ANGEL AND Buffy BE TOGETHER, I THEREFORE CANNOT BE JOSS WHEDON. I AM NOT J K ROWLING AS I WOULD NEVER LET MY DARLING SNUFFLES DIE. A NOTE ON THAT. I READ THE BOOK AND THREW IT AGAINST THE WALL WHEN I CAME TO THAT PART. THIS BEING AT NINE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ON THE DAY IT WAS PUBLISHED. MY BROTHER WAS HIGHLY ANNOYED BY THE SOUND OF A LARGE HARDBACK BOOK COLLIDING WITH THE WALL AND MY CRIES OF RAGE AT THE DEATH OF SNUFFLES. OUT OF PROTEST, I REFUSED TO FINISH THE BOOK UNTIL THAT EVENING.

RATING: PG-13, PERHAPS R IN SOME PARTS FOR LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL INNUENDO.

Chapter Ten

Hermione Granger waited with Ron Weasley outside the classroom where they had been directed to go for physical defence. Despite the fact that they had spent a few days with the slayer, they were just as anxious to see her fight as the rest of the class. Even the Slytherins seemed intrigued by the idea of meeting her and were talking almost as loudly as the Gryffindors. In an amazing display, Malfoy had even forgotten to be rude to Hermione and Ron all morning.

Ron and Hermione had been the first Gryffindors to arrive outside of the Defence classroom that morning. They had been astonished to find Malfoy the only other one there, without his usual tagg-ons of Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. He had said nothing when he had seen them, only nodded at them once and turned back to waiting.

The other Gryffindors and Slytherins had slowly arrived, all exchanging guesses and rumours about what the class would be like. In the excitement, Slytherins and Gryffindors forgot about their rivalries and exchanging ideas between each other. Malfoy stood slightly separated from the others, talking to no one, not even anyone in his own house, he seemed slightly aloof from the rumours and excitement. Then he spoke over a lull in the noise,

"So, Weasley, I heard that Potter and his friends came to see you after he came back from Sunnydale. Care to share any interesting information about the slayer and her friends?"

Ron and Hermione stared at Malfoy as complete silence settled over the class. They did not know quite what to say. The question had been fairly polite and Malfoy didn't seem to be the only one to have heard this little rumour. Before they could answer, the party from Sunnydale swept up, ending all discussion before it could begin again. The Slayer approached the doors and swung them open, a path opening up for her as she walked through the crowd of students with her friends. The very much-changed Potter walked exactly in step with her and her friends followed behind them.

The Slayer turned as she entered the room and gestured for them all to follow her into the room. They found themselves in a large chamber with no furniture except a large desk and a black board at one end of the room. There were several stacks of chairs up against one wall and a large number of locked cabinets. Two doors led off of the room and there was a stack of blue gym mats against one wall. To all those from Muggle homes it looked exactly like a normal gymnasium. In one corner of the room there was huge array of gym supplies, with everything from trampolines to trapezes.

The slayer sat down in the large leather office chair behind the desk and spun around on it a few times. She turned back to face them then and said,

"Everyone get a chair and sit in a semi-circle in front of my desk."

The Hogwarts students scrambled to get a chair and a prime position in front of the slayer. The visitors from Sunnydale smirked slightly and then grabbed chairs for themselves and sat round their friend's desk. Harry Potter leant against the wall behind the slayer's desk, staying well in the shadows. Malfoy noticed then that there were no windows in the room and the lighting was fairly dim. Once everyone was seated, the slayer began to talk,

"Ok. As you all know, I'm the vampire slayer. This does not make me a professor. Anyone who calls me a professor will be made to run the entirety of the grounds twice a day for a month. My name is Buffy Summers, so use it."

There was complete silence in the room as the slayer spoke.

"The people sitting behind me are my friends. Xander Harris, Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenburg and Daniel Osbourne, but everyone calls him Oz. You are to treat them with the same respect as you treat me, that is as you would treat any one of your peers. Do not underestimate any of them. They have been fighting vampires and other creatures of evil with me for a long time and are more than capable of defending themselves. This class is not for them. They will help me with demonstrations and tell you about some of the things we have fought, but they do not need to learn how to defend themselves, I know just how capable they are of fighting for themselves. You are the ones who are here to learn, not them."

The silence was interrupted then as someone spoke, Malfoy identified him as Blaize Zabini, a Slytherin of little importance but a big mouth,

"But we already know how to defend ourselves. That's what we have our wands for."

Malfoy winced mentally. He knew how important a wand was to a wizard, but he also knew that if one relied too heavily on any one form of attack, then it became more of a weakness than a strength. That was why he didn't want to antagonise the slayer. As an aristocrat he had had some lessons in fencing, but he knew his skills of actual defence were shockingly lacking. The slayer would be able to teach him what he needed to know better than anyone else. The slayer answered the arrogant Zabini in this manner,

"Mr Zabini. In the time you have since you just said that, I could have killed you in exactly twenty different ways, not a single one of them involving my using a wand. You do not have anything resembling the mental control to perform magic without a wand, therefore once you have lost your wand, you are and have nothing."

The cocky Zabini was not to be dissuaded,

"No one can perform magic without a wand, it's not possible."

The slayer smirked at this and turned towards the red-head she had introduced as Willow Rosenburg,

"Will, a bit of the mojo, if you please."

The redhead smiled and closed her eyes. After a moment, the air around her began to shimmer slightly and her face began to change. Slowly, her delicate pale features morphed into those of another person, this one with distinctive cheekbones and bleached blonde hair. It was an obviously male face. The slayer snorted,

"Very funny Will. But the idea of you with Spike's face is just too wiggy, so cut the mojo now. I do believe we have proved the idiot wrong now."

The redhead smiled a cheeky smile through the blonde's mouth and turned back into her usual self. But the fool Zabini was still not convinced,

" I still don't see why we need this class. We only need magic to defend ourselves. We are vastly superior using it than with physical defence."

This time it was Potter who spoke. His voice was laced with contempt for the idiot Zabini.

"Fool. You have no idea what you are talking about. Buffy said she could have killed you in twenty different ways. A vampire could have killed you in twice that many. Buffy could also do that, but she doesn't slay humans. You don't need magic to kill a person; all you need is the opportunity. And the guts to do it. It's not easy. Even when it's a vampire you're killing. Until they show their true demonic visage they look exactly like the person whose body they are in. They have all that person's memories and no conscience, no soul. They live only for the blood, for the kill. To them, it doesn't matter whether you're a wizard or not, you're simply food."

There was a muted silence as the man spoke,

"A vampire is almost impervious to wand produced magic. The Cruciatus curse does no more than tickle them. Having the Imperius curse on them is rather like being asked for a favour by your mortal enemy. They don't notice most other curses and jinxes at all. When you're fighting a vampire, you don't have anything but yourself. Zabini, how many vampires have you slain?"

The question came out of the blue, abruptly ending the speech. Zabini scowled and answered unhappily,

"None."

Potter smirked,

"I thought as much. Harris, how many vamps and demons have you slain?"

The dark haired boy sitting by the dark haired girl looked up suddenly then answered,

"One too few. But other than that, maybe twenty or twenty-five, that's not including all the preying-mantis lady's eggs."

Then Potter turned back to the slayer,

"Buffy, how many have you done?"

The slayer shrugged,

"Lost count ages ago. At least one hundred within the last year I'd say. Are we counting the blue boy, 'cos I'd have never been able to slay him if it weren't for Xander coming up with the rocket launcher?"

Potter seemed interested now,

"Harris fetched the rocket launcher?"

The slayer nodded,

"Yeah, him and Cordy. They went to the military base and picked it up for me, along with some other stuff. That was a good birthday present. It sure beat Spike's contribution of an arm in a box."

Potter seemed slightly stunned,

"How did Harris get his hands on a machine gun?"

The slayer smirked,

"You remember that Halloween when Xander turned into a soldier and I turned into Miss Vapid idiot from the 18th century. We got the memories of the person that we were. Xander pretty much remembered everything about the military base. He managed to bluff his way onto the base and picked me out a beautiful little rocket launcher. It's one of those presents that really can't be beaten. He got me some other stuff as well, you know; a Remington M32 shotgun, a Beretta M92F, an Ingram M10 sub-machine gun, an AK47, a coupla' machetes, decent stuff. "

Zabini interrupted them then,

"Miss Summer's is the Slayer, it doesn't matter how many she's killed."

Potter smirked,

"That's where you're wrong. Buffy's a muggle, all she has is her strength and herself. Harris is a muggle and he doesn't have slayer skills to rely on, all he has is himself and he's still killed more vamps and demons than you ever will."

There was silence at this and the slayer spoke into it,

"So, does anyone have any more questions?"

Almost everyone in the room shoved their hand into the air. The Slayer groaned and pointed to a random person,

"What was your toughest slay?"

The slayer winced,

"Why does everyone always ask that? First Faith, now you, whoever the hell you are. The Three were pretty tough, weren't they Angel. Then there were those assassins from the Order of Taraka. Then there was the Master, he was tough. Spike's a bit of a challenge as well, but I could probably take him, 'cos he's got his weakness in Dru'. There was one who was my hardest slay, but he's none of your business."

The students seemed bewildered by most of this answer, most of them making a mental note to go to the library as soon as possible and find out who these people were that the slayer was talking about. The Slayer pointed to another hand then,

"Can you give us a display of what we will be learning in this class?"

The slayer sighed,

"Who wants to help me give a display?"

Almost the entire class shoved their hands into the air once again in an attempt to get a chance to fight the Vampire Slayer herself. The slayer smirked and reached under her desk, she brought out a huge metal bar,

"This bar is solid steel. Xander, try and bend it please."

The boy called Xander walked forwards and attempted to bend the bar, with no luck whatsoever. The slayer then lifted the bar with ease and tied it into a knot. She then tossed the knotted steel to the bar and watched him try to unbend it. He had no success. She then took the steel back and un-knotted it with nearly no effort. She then spoke,

"Okay, anyone still want to help me give a demonstration?"

Not a single hand went into the air. The slayer sighed,

"This is pathetic. I should probably give a demonstration. Angel, put on something practical and get out of those ridiculous robes. Are you okay to give a demo yet?"

Potter, or Angel, as she called him, nodded. He closed his eyes in the same manner that the red-haired witch had done earlier and his school uniform soon disappeared to be replaced by leather trousers and a red velvet shirt. The slayer walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled the doors open to display a huge array of weaponry.

"What do you want us to use?"

Malfoy decided to speak now,

"The broadswords."

Both the slayer and Potter winced at this and the slayer seemed to become unbelievably sad for some reason,

"No, no swords, not today."

All the visitors from Sunnydale had sympathy and pity in their eyes as they looked at the two. Draco wondered what had happened with the swords that made the Slayer so averse to using them, but he guessed he had overstepped his bounds,

"My apologies. The staffs, then?"

The slayer nodded and accepted the apology. She removed two heavy wooden staffs from the case and tossed one to Potter with ease, holding the other in a perfect hold. The two combatants circled each other for a time. They made a few practise strikes at each other, warming up for the approaching fight. Then the fight truly began. It was truly amazing. Sometimes it was impossible to watch the fight as the two moved too fast for them to follow. The staffs became mere blurs of dark would between the two fighters. There were thuds occasionally as wood met flesh and after some time, the movement stopped. The slayer stood over Potter, her staff held at his chest, poised as if to pierce his heart.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then the applause began. The Slayer removed her staff from over Potter's heart and reached down to help him up. The slayer was slightly flushed and they were both sweating a little. The slayer spoke as she turned to Potter,

"You're getting better again, you almost had me then."

Potter smiled at her,

"I'm recovering. You're still better than me though."

The slayer had removed her robed before the fight and stood there, wearing only black trousers and a white crop top. The top was drenched in sweat and clung to her chest. The entire class was stunned by the display, all except the four from Sunnydale. They treated it as if it were a normal occurrence. Malfoy had expected that standard from the Slayer, but Potter. Where had he gained that skill and strength? And what was he recovering from that he could occasionally beat the slayer in a fight beforehand? All of these questions needed answering. Before he could frame any of them however, the bell rang to signify the end of class. The slayer spoke then.

"You'd better get gone then. You have potions next and I doubt his greasiness would be please if you were all late."

With that she sent them all out of her room and beckoned the seventh year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs inside.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

****

AN: CHAPTER ELEVEN HERE. DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS AT THE MOMENT, BUT I'M HAVING SO MUCH STORY INSPIRATION THAT I CAN'T HELP BUT WRITE. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY UPDATES THERE ARE GOING TO BE BEFORE THE WEEKEND, BUT I'LL TRY TO DO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN ANYTHING

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER ON

Chapter Eleven

Angel managed to get away from the crowd once they had left the large room his lover was using to teach. She was in her element now, talking to others about something she truly knew about. It was truly her area of expertise. She knew more than anyone about fighting against the evil in this world did. And yet she was mostly untouched by the darkness that surrounded her constantly.

He ducked into the first secret tunnel he saw and stood behind its concealed door for a moment. No matter what he told Buffy, he was still wounded from his sojourn in Acathla's hell dimension. And he was so hungry. All those people around him again. He could hear their blood as it pumped through their veins. Angelus was just below the surface, urging him to drink deep, to become the demon his nature said he should be. To glut himself on all those who used to be his friends. And then to take Buffy. To make her a vampire and his eternal slave and consort. To make her his as he should have done months ago and then the two of them could spread a trail of blood and destruction across Britain as he had done all those years ago.

The demon was so close now, urging against the walls of the cage he had built for it in the darkest recesses of his mind. He could almost see it. He could see the thick crimson of the blood, the fires he could spread behind him, the beauty of what Buffy would become as a vampire. He could almost taste the blood, the powerful blood of the witches and wizards, the blood of that irritating Harris brat. He could hear the screams, the begging, the whimpering and the wonderful music of tolling funeral bells. And he could smell it. The gushing blood flooding in pools from broken bodies. The peerless cocktail of fear and despair. And in his mind he could imagine dancing with Buffy in the flames of burning cities.

He could imagine the life they would lead if he turned her as his queen. His power would be unrivalled and hers infinite. They would rule this pitiful dimension; nothing could stand against them. And Buffy would be his forever, his consort and willing-slave. The two of them would dance in the ashes of the destruction they would wreak. And then they would fulfil that ancient and primitive ritual.

He would teach her. Teach her all the parts of that act that he had not had time to show her. He would teach her how the pain could make the pleasure so much greater. And they would have eternity. He would make it that she only had the finest. She would never dress in cotton or wool again. She would be clothed only in the finest silks, leather and velvet. She would drink only the finest blood. And she would be his and his alone. Perhaps he could chain her to his bed. Or he could arrange for her to have an enchanted lead and collar around her neck. He could have her curled naked by his feet, her flesh scatted with his marks of possession. And he would be the only one for her. She would crave no other. She would take no satisfaction from the touch of any other. She would belong to him and him alone.

He leant against the wall of the passage, panting even though he didn't need to breathe. The images were so vivid, so enticing. And all he had to do was reach out and take it. It could all be his. He took a deep, calming and unnecessary breath. He shoved Angelus to the back of his mind, as he deserved to be. He remembered everything he had to fight for; Buffy smiling and laughing while sunlight sparkled gold in her hair, his few painful memories of his parents. He regained his equilibrium. He stood again and made his way through the passage down towards where he knew Snape's potions dungeon to be.

To his luck, he found that Snape had yet to arrive. The class was gathered outside the classroom, all in deep discussion about the previous class. His old friends from Gryffindor stood together, chatting animatedly and so innocently, so unaware of the horrors of the real world. The group from Sunnydale stood slightly separated, not shielded in any way from the truth of the real world, older than they should ever have to be, their shoulders slightly weighed down by the burden of the knowledge of evil that they possessed.

He didn't know where he belonged.He couldn't return to the 'Scooby gang', not after what he had done to them all. He didn't deserve their acceptance. But he didn't think he could bring himself to return to what he used to be. He could barely remember who Harry Potter had been. He could bring names to very few of the faces that had once belonged to his friends. He couldn't be with them and know all the evil in the world. He could not listen to their naivete.

Willow made the decision for him. She waved at him shyly and smiled. The others beckoned for him to join them, though Xander and Cordelia didn't exactly seem enthusiastic. He crossed over to them. Willow spoke when he arrived,

"So Angel, you took a long time to get down here. Are you all right? Not that you don't look all right. You look fine. Not like that. I mean… You look well. You are well aren't you? Buffy said you were hurt. She was worried about you. Not that we're not worried about you, but… Oz, you're supposed to stop me when I do that."

The young werewolf shrugged slightly and smiled at his girlfriend. Angel smiled slightly and answered her honestly concerned enquiries.

"I'm fine now. Just a bit of Cabin fever kicking in. Also, there are lots of people here. I've not exactly been around many humans recently except for you and Buffy."

Oz nodded understandingly. From what Angel knew of werewolves, he knew that the beast was a lot more a part of the man in the time around the full moon. Oz had the advanced senses of all werewolves and also was so close to the moon as to feel the urges of the hunt upon him, the urges of the kill. The others didn't seem to truly understand, but accepted his answer anyway. Then Xander asked,

"Hey, dead-boy, how do you know what cabin fever is?"

Angel scowled,

"I don't know how many times I've told you not to call me that."

The boy smirked in a truly aggravating manner,

"Hey, it's the truth, you're dead."

Angel scowled,

"Yes and that's not exactly something I enjoy. Anyway, if you keep calling me that, then the secret will be out too soon. Also, just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't know some of your terms. I knew when they first used that particular one."

Xander shrugged,

"Whatever, I won't call you dead boy when people can hear."

Angel nodded. Just then, any further conversations were ended as Professor Snape swept down the corridor, his robes billowing out behind him. All noise disappeared as he swept through the ranks of students. He swung open the door to the dank potions lab and walked strode inside with a sneer fixed firmly upon his face. The Gryffindors and Slytherins shrugged, used to this display from the potions teacher every time a New Year came and he didn't get the defence post, and followed him inside.

As was customary, the Gryffindors and Slytherins sat in two different parts of the large room. The group from Sunnydale sat slightly separate, at the back of the dungeon. Snape glowered around the room and then his eyes came to rest on the five at the back. He snorted slightly and asked in a silky tone,

"Mr Potter, I am wondering whether you have learnt anything whatsoever during your absence, other than how to make even more of a nuisance of yourself?"

Oz, Xander, Cordelia and Willow all stared at the greasy haired git in amazement. They couldn't even imagine someone talking to Angel like this. Even when he wasn't Angelus he was still a terrifying person when he chose to be. But Angel was not slightly perturbed, instead he answered in a silky and dangerous voice the four had come to associate more with Angelus than with his soul having counterpart,

"Powdered root of asphodel added to an infusion of wormwood makes a sleeping potion known as the draught of living death. If it is too strong or given in too high an amount it acts like an overdose of a muggle drug and can be used as a poison. Wolfsbane and monkshood are also known as aconite and have no effect on werewolves, despite their title. A bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat that can save you from most poisons, however, its affects are rather like taking the muggle drug ecstasy and it is highly addictive as well as dangerous for the health in the long term."

The entire classroom stared at him in amazement, then Xander said,

"Aren't bezoars those ugly things that hatch in eggs laid by the mother bezoar and act as a mind control thing?"

Willow nodded,

"Yeah, there was a mother bezoar in the basement and we all got infected except for you and Buffy. Buffy fed one of the Gorch brothers to the mamma bezoar, killed the mom and then staked the other brother."

Angel raised an eyebrow,

"I never knew about that."

Willow smiled,

"But I thought you lurked and knew everything?"

Angel shook his head,

"Yes to the lurking, no the knowing everything. This was after that thing with Spike and Dru and that curse wasn't it?"

Willow nodded,

"Oh, then I wasn't lurking then. I spent most of my time back at my apartment or hunting with Buffy."

Xander snorted,

"Oh, hunting, that's what they called it in your day, or is it an English thing?"

Cordelia and Willow both hit him on the head, Angel smirked,

"I hadn't heard about the bezoars."

Willow shrugged,

"Well, there was the thing with the Judge and then you weren't exactly yourself afterwards."

Angel winced. Professor Snape was not pleased with the way the class was going. The five at the back were talking about things that he had only read about and then only as myths. But they were talking as if they were everyday things, things that they were used to fighting. He decided to end the conversation now,

"Potter, five points from Gryffindor for disrupting the class."

The Harris boy snorted,

"One might think he almost didn't like you."

Potter scowled and elbowed the boy,

"He doesn't, shut up."

The boy massaged his stomach,

"Ow, you're not going all evil again are you?"

Potter shook his head,

"No, however much I might enjoy elbowing you in the gut, it doesn't equal perfect happiness."

The boy scowled,

"Somehow that just doesn't make me feel any better. I would like to get in all rights for saying I told you so, when he goes all psycho again."

Potter scowled even deeper,

"I'm not going to go all psycho again, unless you drive me to killing you. At that point your silence will probably cause perfect happiness for me and most of the rest of the planet."

The other three snorted and the boy affected an expression of mock hurt,

"I'm cut to the quick, really. You wound me with your harsh words."

The two girls rolled their eyes and reached out and whacked the top of the boy's head with their fists. The boy yelped,

"Hey, don't do that, you might cause brain damage."

Potter smirked,

"To suffer brain damage, you have to have a brain to damage."

As the boy began to think up a witty comeback to this, Professor Snape spoke again,

"Potter, that'll be another five points from Gryffindor for disrespecting your elders."

He only realised the stupidity of these words when the two girls and the Harris boy cracked up laughing. The red-haired werewolf even cracked a smile. After a moment, the girl, Cordelia, spoke,

"Professor, you're not showing your years much. I have to wonder, where do you get your moisturiser? They're very good. You might ask them if they do shampoo."

Some of the other Gryffindors began to laugh now and Snape snapped at them,

"That is quite enough. Another ten points from Gryffindor. Turn to page 84 of your textbooks and begin to make the potion you will find there. Anyone whose potion does not meet my approval will be in detention every night for the next week."

With much groaning and rustling of paper, the class settled down to the making of the potion. The four visitors started off fairly slowly, but it seemed that Cordy had a bit of a talent for making potions and a good hand and eye for measuring and cutting the ingredients.

Buffy slouched into the dining hall at the end of morning classes and fell into her chair at the head table with a groan. Professor Vector was sitting at the table nearby and turned kindly to her,

"Bad morning?"

Buffy groaned in agreement,

"The worst. I had fifth year Gryffindor and Slytherin first. Then I had first year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Then it was third year Gryffindor and Slytherin. Then I finished off my morning with seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin."

The other teacher winced in sympathy.

"That's bad. And I take it you've met the Weasley twins this morning?"

Buffy nodded,

"Yeah, they tried to turn my hair pink, I accidentally sent them to the hospital wing. I thought they'd know better. When I came with Angel, that's Harry, Ron insulted Angel and I beat him into the floor."

The other teacher smiled softly,

"You care about Mr Potter a lot, do you not?"

Buffy sighed,

"It's complicated. He was always there. And I fell in love with him. I didn't know about all this until recently. It's a bit of a shock if you slept with someone who you thought epitomised the older man, then you discover he was actually only born fourteen years previously when you made love. We're complicated. My watcher doesn't want us to be together. My friends don't want us to be together. It's hard. I love him so much, but sometimes it's difficult. I mean. I just wish they could accept my choice."

Professor Vector smiled,

"You know what they say, 'to err is human, to forgive, divine'. What Mr Potter did as Angelus is not an easy thing to forgive."

The slayer was instantly on her guard.

"You know that Harry is Angelus?"

The runes teacher nodded,

"Yes. Do not worry. I am the only one. I know a vampire when I see one and he is a rather famous one."

Buffy smiled, now worried that someone else would make the connection, the other professor soothed her fears,

"Do not be concerned. Others will not make the connection. I did not truly believe it until you just confirmed it for me."

Buffy nodded, and then Angel walked into the hall. He walked in with Buffy's other four friends. He walked straight into the sunlight shining down from the ceiling.

Buffy rose from her seat with a gasp of dismay. But, Angel didn't start to smoke. He merely stood in the entrance to the hall, staring in amazement at the sunlight dancing on his skin. He then stared up at the ceiling, glutting his senses on the sight of a shining blue sky for the first time in a hundred and fifty years. Buffy ran down the hall and wrapped her arms around him, afraid that he might suddenly combust. Willow spoke then,

"It must be because it's just a spell. You said earlier that vampires are immune to most magic, therefor magically produced sunlight would not affect you."

Angel nodded dumbly, now staring at the sunshine glinting in Buffy's hair. She smiled and looked up at him,

"Angel, you look beautiful in the sunlight."

Buffy tilted her head up towards him and reached her lips up to meet his. They were just about to kiss when Cordelia interrupted them,

"As romantic as the whole sunlight thing is, I'd prefer it if the two of you didn't do the whole happy thing in the middle of the hall."

Buffy and Angel sprung apart then and quickly walked back to their seats at the staff table. Angel and Buffy kept stealing looks at each other, though, desperately drinking in the image of what the other looked liked in sunlight.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

****

AN: I WASN'T GOING TO WRITE ANY MORE UNTIL I GOT BACK FROM FLORIDA IN AUGUST, BUT I SAW ALL THE REVIEWS AND I GOT THIS HAPPY FEELING. IT MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT I HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH DINNER WITH MY GRANDPARENTS FOR THE SECOND TIME IN FOUR DAYS. AFTER SUCH TORMENT I AM MUCH MORE EASILY PERSUADABLE.

DISCLAIMER: ERM IF I OWNED THIS THEN I WOULD HAVE TO BE TWO PEOPLE AT ONCE, THEREFORE I DO NOT OWN IT AND THE AMOUNT OF PROFIT I GET FOR THIS STORY IS SWEET NOTHING.

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER ON, AS SOON AS I GET RID OF THAT PESKY CURSE.

Chapter Twelve

The time passed quickly during the first few days. They all settled into a new routine. Angel attended all the classes he could inside the building and searched through the library every evening, always hunting for anything that might help with his curse. There had been a few incidences where clues were given out that Angel was more than he seemed, but mostly he became a normal part of the school again. The Quidditch trials were coming up that weekend and they had been scheduled for after sunset so that Angel could give his opinion of the prospective seekers.

Giles spent all his time doing whatever it is that librarians do for fun. He read countless books from the library and mastered the art of wizarding chess. He seemed a lot happier now and had taken to wearing a strange amulet around his neck. Sometimes he seemed to be somewhere else entirely and it could take him a while to return from wherever it was he went then. He redeveloped his friendship with Angel and the two could often be found going over books together or discussing matters of history in low voices.

Willow pushed herself to do the most, as she always did. She pushed herself to the limits in all her classes and rapidly proved to be a witch of remarkable talent. She kept up her studies into wiccan magic even as she flung herself into this new magic. She took to this new brand of enchantment as a vampire takes to blood. She proved to be a mistress of all the subjects she studied and began to take more electives. She also pushed her limits in her normal studies. Every evening she was constantly at her books, if not working on their normal work then doing extra credit and researching colleges. She read every book on werewolves that she could find in an attempt to help Oz and was anxious to explore the bookshop in Hogsmeade. Also she assisted with the research into Angel's curse. She went over books with the vampire and was working on translating the curse in an attempt to discover more about the conditions of the perfect happiness.

Cordelia was also very comfortable in the new lifestyle. After the first few days she had stopped wearing robes to class. She had yet to show any magical talent, but was skilled enough in potions to merit compliments from Snape. When she had free time she could often be found in the dungeons working on potions with the potions master. That was when she wasn't testing the quality of the closets around Hogwarts with Xander.

Xander had developed an interesting skill when he had arrived at Hogwarts. Whether it was a normal development, or whether it was the excess magic in the environment encouraging a latent talent, Xander now had the ability to immediately tell whether or not someone was lying. On some occasions this gift proved very useful and highly disturbing on others, which shall not be mentioned as to not corrupt the reader's innocent ears. At prompting from both Cordelia and Willow, he was applying himself more in his usual studies and his grades were improving.

Oz was just the same as he had always been. However, he was showing remarkable ability in the Care of Magical Creatures classes he and the others attended without Angel. This was possibly due to his status as a werewolf, however his gift with magical creatures was remarkable. He was doing his schoolwork to the usual high standard and was assisting Willow in translating Angel's curse.

Buffy was happy in her new role as a teacher. She was finding herself thinking about teaching even when she was not. And she analysed her students' progress closely, determining which ones really needed help and which ones were simply not applying themselves and which ones had real talent. When she was not planning lessons or doing her own schoolwork, she was with Angel, searching constantly for an answer to the curse.

It was three days since they had first arrived at Hogwarts and Buffy had yet to teach her friends since that first day. That afternoon was to be the second time she taught the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins and she was looking forward to it. In the previous class she had asked all the students to wear comfortable clothing for moving around in and she hoped that they had taken her words to heart.

When Angel and her other friends arrived at the classroom that afternoon, she was relieved to see that they were all wearing jogging pants and loose t-shirts. Well, Angel was wearing leather pants and a black silk shirt, but she wasn't going to complain about that either. As they approached, she could hear Xander speaking,

"- swear that old bat's crazy."

Angel nodded,

"Yeah, Tralawny always was nutty."

The others laughed and Angel continued,

"However, she reminds me in some twisted way of Dru'."

Willow laughed,

"Yeah, it must be the thing with the visions."

Angel shrugged,

"But Dru's visions were actually real, whereas Tralawny a huge fraud. From what Dumbledore told me she has only had two real visions."

They stopped by her then and Buffy smiled at them. She turned to Angel and asked in a saccharine voice,

"Hard day at the office, dear?"

Angel snorted slightly,

"Apparently I'm going to die."

Buffy quirked an eyebrow,

"What?"

Angel smirked,

"Well, we just had divination and the teacher's a complete nutty fraud. Every lesson she predicts that I'm going to die. Me and Ron made up loads of false predictions last year and got 'A's for our colourful descriptions of our deaths."

Buffy laughed and then sobered up,

"How are things going with your other friends, Angel?"

Angel shrugged,

"I'm not really friends with them any more."

Buffy frowned,

"Angel, they care about you."

He shook his head,

"No, they care a lot about Harry Potter. Harry died on July 31st when he went back in time and became Liam. Then Liam died when Darla turned him and he became Angelus. Then Angelus died when I got my soul and became Angel. Their friend is dead."

Buffy sighed,

"Angel, they were your best friends for four years, that has to count for something."

Angel sighed and shook his head,

"Four years may be a long time when you're fifteen. But when you've seen over two-hundred and fifty years in this world and another five hundred in another, then it's not so long. The boy they knew died lifetimes ago."

Buffy scowled,

"What about Sirius? What about your godfather? Angel, he fucking loves you, are you going to tell him to stop loving you because you've changed?"

Angel shook his head,

"No, I'm not…"

"Then don't give up on your friends. They were your best friends when you were growing up. Best friends doesn't end because people change. Best friends is forever."

Angel smiled slightly,

"Forever, that's the whole point."

Buffy stared at him for a moment and then continued,

"They still care about you Angel. And if Harry Potter were truly dead, we wouldn't be here today. Part of you still loves and cares for these people and that's what truly matters."

Angel sighed,

"It's just difficult, Buffy. I can barely remember so much of this. Half of it's more like a dream than a memory."

"You're not Harry Potter any more, but he's still a part of who you are. Part of being friends with someone is accepting how your friends change. And if you want, we can always leave."

"No, never. I must destroy Voldemort."

At that moment, Ron and Hermione came racing up the corridor. They had obviously met up after they had finished their previous classes and had run to be early to this one. Buffy smiled at them and gestured all seven of them to wait outside as she went in to finish getting ready.

When the entire class was outside the room, Buffy stuck her head out of the door and said,

"Okay, class is beginning in precisely twenty seconds. Anyone not inside by then will be made to listen to Spike's awful poetry."

Angel laughed as he entered the room with the others,

"How'd you know how bad Will's poems were?"

Buffy snorted,

"I mooched around the mansion a lot. He left a few copies behind."

The room was set up differently today. The furniture was placed more as the furniture in a ordinary classroom would be set up, with rows of desks in front of the teacher's desk. Angel saw that Ron and Hermione had grabbed three seats at the back of the room and went over to sit with them.

When he was sitting, Buffy began to talk,

"I know this is a physical defence class, but before we begin this particular unit of defence, you're going to have to know more about the creatures you will be fighting. Therefore, we will be spending the next few lessons talking about and making detailed notes on these creatures."

Buffy was still talking,

"I hope you all have a pen and paper with you."

Angel reached into his bag and brought out a fresh black, ring-bound jotter and an ink-pen. He opened the jotter to a fresh page and waited. Buffy turned and wrote on the board in large letters:

VAMPIRES

She then turned back to the class.

"Okay, for the next few weeks we will be studying vampires. We will do two main sections; how to spot a vamp and how to dust a vamp. First things first, what is a vampire?"

Loads of hands shot up into the air, Hermione's included. Buffy smiled and pointed to Hermione,

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"A vampire is a nocturnal re-animated corpse that has to drink blood to survive."

"Wrong. Any other answers?"

Hermione seemed stunned, she was never told she was wrong in class, as she was nearly always right. Angel decided to save time and put his own hand into the air, Buffy chuckled,

"Ah, the expert speaks. Ok, Angel. Tell me what a vampire is."

Angel grimaced,

"A vampire is a corpse into which a demon enters after the soul has left the body for the aether. It is capable of carrying out all bodily functions, such as eating, sleeping, sexual activity etc. However none of these are necessary for a vampire. All a vampire needs to survive is blood. It does not necessarily have to be human blood, but vampires only drink the blood of animals in the direst emergencies. It is almost heretic to live solely off the blood of animals. A vampire has no soul, no conscience, however, it has all the memories of the person its demon inhabits. This makes it a dangerous opponent in mental battles."

"Excellent Angel, everyone paraphrase that somehow. Now, Angel, how is a vampire made?"

Angel groaned.

"What is this, pick on me day or something? Ask Harris."

Buffy smirked,

"Ah, Mr Potter. Answer the question otherwise it's detention with me for a week for you."

Angel smirked right back at her,

"Again with the making Xander answer the question."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him,

"Pervert. Anyway, you know more than Xander does."

Cordelia smiled,

"Ain't that the truth?"

Xander cried in mock hurt,

"Hey. Respect the guy who fetches the doughnuts."

Willow smirked,

"Unless he forgets or falls asleep, that is."

Xander winced,

"Hey, I already said I was sorry about that. How many times do I need to say it?"

Willow smiled and Oz almost cracked an expression,

"We know you've apologised, it's just such a moral high."

Buffy rolled her eyes at their antics,

"Willow, Cordelia, Angel stop picking on Xander, no matter how easy it is, we must not prey on the weak, Angel, answer the question otherwise you have to be polite to Xander for an entire week."

Angel scowled but answered the question,

"A vampire is turned when another vampire drains the person of all their blood and then feeds them their blood. The vampire who turns the other vampire is called the new vampire's sire."

Buffy sighed,

"Thank-you Angel, that didn't hurt at all, now did it?"

He mock grimaced,

"Well, maybe just a little."

She stuck out her tongue at him,

"Very mature, you're supposed to be the eldest person in the room, act like it for once."

He smirked,

"Ja mein Fuhrer."

Buffy scowled and turned to face the rest of the room,

"Right, that's it. Which one of you gave him the happy pills?"

The others in the classroom exchanged looks, completely confused by the interaction. Buffy scowled and turned back to her lover,

"Right. That's it. You have to behave for the entirety of the rest of the class otherwise you're rooming with Xander."

Angel would have paled if that were possible and Xander didn't look that pleased either. Buffy nodded and then asked,

"Okay, now the clowns have been sedated. How would you spot a vampire in public?"

Loads of hands shot up into the air and Buffy picked one at random,

"Yes, Mr Malfoy?"

Malfoy smirked and answered,

"Well, they have demonic faces and fangs. That's a bit of a give away."

Buffy nodded,

"Yes, but vampires are capable of hiding their true demonic visage behind the face of the human whose body they inhabit. Therefore, they often hide their faces right up until the moment they begin to feed. By then, of course, it's too late."

Malfoy seemed disappointed that he had not been absolutely correct. Buffy continued.

"There are other ways of identifying a vampire before it shows its demonic visage. Anyone have any ideas of how to spot a vampire before they show their game-face?"

A few hands went into the air and Buffy pointed to one,

"Mr Longbottom?"

Neville quivered with excitement and nervousness at being asked to answer and stuttered as he replied,

"Well, they might have dirt on their clothes from digging out of their graves."

Buffy smiled,

"Yes, very good. Most of the elder clans hold to the tradition of waiting for a fledgling to rise from their own grave. These young vampires are known as fledglings. However, after some time after they rise, a vampire will change their clothes and clean up. This makes it hard to use this to identify a vampire by the condition of their clothes. However, there are other ways to identify a vampire through their clothes, any ideas about how that might work? Miss Brown?"

Lavender giggled at having been asked to answer the question and blushed pink as she answered,

"Well, a vampire is like from the time they were, like, made. So they wear really bad old fashions."

Buffy nodded,

"Yes, that can work. However, it can be inaccurate. There is no fool proof way of identifying a vampire, although there are signs. A vampire won't show up in a mirror, but they tend to avoid them. An old vampire will be very pale and some ancient vampires are physically deformed. For example, the vampire Kakistos had cloven horns and other signs even when he was not wearing his game face. And the Master looked like an overgrown fruit bat. However, vampires as old as these normally have minions to do their public dirty work. There are some signs by the way they talk and act but these are again inaccurate methods."

Seamus asked the question they were all thinking,

"Then, how do you identify vampires?"

Buffy smiled at him and the entire male population of the room melted into a puddle on the floor.

"Well, I use the methods I described above, but I have another advantage. The slayer has advanced senses. I can sense vampires and other non-human creatures when they're near. It gives me an advantage."

Seamus nodded. Then Buffy turned back to the class,

"Okay, I'm setting you all an assignment. I want an essay on any one famous vampire of your choice. This is to be handed in at the end of next week and is to be no longer than two thousand words at most. Use any resources that you want, but don't go overboard. The essay is to include a brief synopsis of the vampires life before they were turned and a description of their movements up until the present day. You can also include details such as the clan they belonged to, the name and a brief history of their sire and anything you want to use."

The students groaned as they wrote down the assignment. Angel snorted as he tried to decide who he would write about. It might be seen to be a little egotistical to write about himself and he didn't want to disturb the other students by an in-depth account of what Angelus did when he was being the Scourge of Europe. Maybe he could write about Spike and be really rude about the cocky blonde. It wasn't that he hated Spike, it was more that he detested him with a passion. Yes, he would be rude about Spike to make himself feel better.

The class ended soon after that and Angel waited behind with the others from Sunnydale to talk to Buffy. She packed up her things and then turned to them, smiling,

"Will you be okay to do the essay, Angel?"

Angel nodded and Buffy sighed in relief.

"That's good, 'cos I was really worried about that. But I had to make the others do it 'cos they need to know more about vampires before I can teach them how to fight them. The only way they can learn more about vamps in general is to study one vampire in detail. So that's okay."

Angel smiled and kissed Buffy gently on the cheek. She smiled up at him ran her hands through his short hair.

"Love you."

Angel almost sobbed, remembering the first time they had said this,

"Love you too."

Then Buffy remembered what she wanted to know,

"Have you been making any progress in your research into the curse?"

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

****

AN: HERE IS CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE REVIEWED ME, BUT THIS MUST REALLY BE MY LAST UPDATE UNTIL AUGUST. WILL TRY TO HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER UP BY THE FIFTH OF AUGUST, BUT I CAN'T MAKE ANY PROMISES. GOD, I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT YET AND I'M ALLREADY GOING INTO WITHDRAWEL FROM FANFICTION.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT AND I NEVER WILL UNLESS MY PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION ARE SUCCESSFUL

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER FOR LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL REFERENCES. UNDER THIRTEENS DON'T READ THIS IF YOUR PARENTS CAN SEE THE COMPUTER.

Chapter Thirteen

There was silence in the large classroom after Buffy asked this question. Angel sighed as he answered unhappily,

"I have found quite a lot on Gypsy magic, but mostly history, nothing that will really help us.

Most gypsy magic is related to Divination and potions."

Willow sighed,

"I have been working on translating the copy of the curse Ms Calendar left us, but the linguistic style is highly archaic and the language complicated."

Cordelia, Oz and Xander shrugged, indicating that their efforts into finding a solution had been as effective as those of the vampire and the wiccan. Buffy visibly wilted, she had hoped that their arrival at Hogwarts would provide an instant answer. She knew realistically that this was an unreasonable hope, but she had wished it to be so nonetheless.

She shook herself, she knew the answer had to be somewhere, all they had to do was wait and keep on searching until they found it. Buffy had seen the main Hogwarts library, a collection of books that extensive had to contain one containing the answers that they were looking for. It just had to. Buffy looked at Angel and her heart clenched. After she had sent him to hell, she had tried to move on. But she couldn't.

Buffy knew that she would never be able to have another man. Not after Angel. It had been so perfect that night. Despite everything that had been happening before and everything that had happened afterwards, Buffy knew that, if she had the choice, she would never take that night back.

That night had been so beautiful. Buffy could remember every minute, from when she walked into the Bronze, or rather, fell through the window, until she went to sleep, wrapped in Angel's arms. She remembered the feeling of being wrapped in his red silk sheets.

Their love had only been strengthened by what was happening around them. They had made love as if the world were going to end, as if it were their last night alive. Buffy had memorised every inch of Angel's body, committing it to memory for eternity.

And then she had woken alone. Angel had made love to her and she woke alone in his large bed. The months that followed had been torment, from Angelus' return to the apartment and his tormenting words, to the months after she had sent him to hell. That summer had been the worst period in her entire life.

Part of her had been taken from her that night at the mansion. Without Angel, without even the familiar menace of Angelus, she had been incomplete. Every night her dreams had been full of him and every night her dreams turned to nightmares.

Then she had returned to Sunnydale. Returned to distant friends and a mother in denial. Returned to a grieving watcher and a constantly oblivious world. And returned to a Sunnydale without Angel. Without the dark shadow of the vampire she loved. A Sunnydale with another slayer.

Every night she had patrolled, both with and without Faith, every tomb-stone was marred by her memories of Angel. She couldn't go to the Restfield cemetery without remembering the passionate kisses she had shared with Angel while the Gorch brothers watched from the shadows. She couldn't train with Giles or Faith without wishing that Angel was there, without thinking about how much easier it was for her to train with Angel.

And then there had been Scott. He had been nice. He was the kind of boy Buffy would have willingly dated before she met Angel. He was funny and kind and gentle and he was just the kind of boy girls were supposed to fall for. He was decent and generous and modest. But he wasn't Angel. She hadn't been able to kiss him without instinctively reaching up higher. She couldn't look into his eyes without seeing chocolate brown orbs full of sorrow instead of innocent blue eyes.

He had offered her a claddagh ring. He had known so little about it, seen it only as a sign of friendship. He could not have known what the claddagh ring Angel had given to her had meant to her. He had done it only to be nice and Buffy did not want to hurt him. She had tried to accept that her Angel would not be coming back. She had tried to move on, she had tried to begin something new with Scott. And she had thought that she might have begun to be happy with him.

But it felt like betrayal. Every time she kissed Scott her heart ached for the one she had lost. She had ached for cool and experienced lips and hands quenching the fires within her. She had ached for Angel's constant and familiar presence. She had ached for Angel's half-smile and knowing that for a moment she had been able to ease his suffering. Every night she had ached for Angel to be there for her to talk to, to just hold her while she cried.

Angel had been her equal in every way. He was a strong as her. He was a warrior for good. He knew the death Buffy had been forced to face, the death she had experienced herself. He had been a fighter she could match and her passion for him matched his passion for her. Despite everything that said they should be apart, that she should kill him, they had been in love. And she had killed him.

And he had come back. She didn't know how. All she knew was that Angel was back. She didn't have to pretend to have moved on. She didn't have to pretend she was over him. But she had been so afraid. She had been afraid that she could not help him to recover, that she would have to turn the man she loved into so many particles of dust.

No, she would find a way to end this curse. Because Angel deserved happiness. He deserved a break from all the suffering he had had in his lives. She shook herself from her reverie and turned to the others.

"Shall we go into my office and have a drink?"

The other five smiled and followed her into her office. Buffy was pleased with her office. It was a fairly small room, with a few cases of weapons and some books on vampires, but she had made it comfortable. There was a large desk where she kept her lesson plans and homework assignments. Then there were several comfortable chairs arranged in front of a fire place.

As her friends sat down, Buffy went over to a cupboard and brought out five tall bottles of Budweiser and a bottle of the Irish beer Angel had said he liked the best. She pulled the caps off with her hands and passed the drinks out, keeping one beer for herself.

The others had all pulled off their robes. Angel had stopped wearing his school uniform after the first day and now wore his black leather trousers and silk shirt as well as a long pair of trench robes he had bought in Diagon Alley. The others wore normal clothes underneath their robes. She went over to the wizarding gramophone on her desk. She had been lucky to find this as well as some copies of muggle music in a small shop on Diagon Alley. She flicked through the records until she found the one she had been looking for and placed it on the gramophone. The sounds of Guns n' Roses echoed into the quiet office.

Buffy then went over to another cupboard and brought out a bag of pretzels and a box of doughnuts. She poured some of the pretzels into a bowl and placed them on the table along with the doughnuts. She then returned to her seat and collapsed into it with a sigh. Angel turned to her,

"Hard day at the office?"

Buffy groaned,

"You have no idea. I would like to find the person who said, 'those that can't, teach', and take his arms off and stuff them down his own throat."

Xander winced,

"That's gotta hurt."

Angel nodded,

"It does."

Then he saw the strange looks the Scooby gang were giving him and continued defensively.

"When I was in the Master's court there used to be these fights. I was in one with another vampire and one of my arms got ripped off. But if you place any part of a vampire that has been removed back by that vampire, it will re-attach itself. Except for heads, of course."

Cordelia made her 'ick' face,

"Eeew, that's completely gross."

Angel shrugged in apology and then Xander asked,

"So, who was it that managed to tear your arm off then, Dead Boy?"

Angel scowled,

"Don't call me that. Anyway, it doesn't matter, I kind of dismembered him."

Xander winced,

"Oh, I take it this was the kind of dismemberment you couldn't re-member yourself afterwards?"

Angel nodded,

"Yes, it was one of the Master's other childer's childer. He was rather jealous of my position in the Master's court."

Xander nodded,

"Yeah, I can imagine Angelus having a high position in the court."

The others turned to look at him. He scowled,

"What? I can't accept that Angel and Angelus are different? I've met both versions and I have to say I prefer this one."

The others stared at Xander for a moment. It appeared that finally Xander had gotten over his ridiculous jealousy for Angel. Buffy suspected that it had something to do with his new relationship with Cordelia of all people. She was glad that Xander had finally stopped being such a dick about the vampire. She then turned back to the group and asked,

"So, leaving conversations about dismemberment aside, what are your other teachers like?"

Angel groaned,

"Professor Umbridge is a nuisance. She refuses to teach any practical magic. It's completely pointless. The others in the class are being rather stupid about it though. They keep on asking questions that she won't answer."

The others nodded in agreement and Buffy sighed,

"Well, there's not much we can do about the Umbridge cow, so, let's get ridiculously drunk and play stupid drinking games."

The others nodded in agreement and Buffy went to another cupboard and brought out a bottle of vodka and some shot glasses. She placed the shot glasses in front of each person and poured some vodka into each. She then spoke,

"Okay, I vote for 'I Never' and I'm the slayer so my word goes. Who want's to start?"

The others exchanged looks and Xander indicated that he wanted to start. He looked around and then said,

"I've never been drunk in public."

Buffy sighed and picked up her shot glass. She knocked it back and winced slightly as the alcohol burned down her throat, she saw the others looking and said,

"What? There was the frat party and I did loads of stuff when I was at Hemery."

The others shrugged, Xander and Willow knew perfectly well that Buffy hadn't exactly been the model student at her old high school. Angel knew what Buffy had done before as well. Oz and Cordelia hadn't known, but they knew that Buffy had been to Vegas. The others looked around the circle to see if anyone else would drink. Angel groaned and knocked down his shot with practice ease. The others stared at him,

"When I was alive in Galway I spent most of my free time getting drunk in inns with other young heirs and getting kicked out of said inns for my behaviour. I got put in stocks once, that was not comfortable."

The others stared at him for a moment and then nodded. Nobody else drank, either they had never been that drunk or they had taken the precaution of not drinking too much in public. Cordelia thought for a moment and then said,

"I never kissed someone of the same sex."

The cheerleader then knocked back her own shot glass and looked at the others. Buffy knocked back her own shot, showing a pattern between cheerleading and kissing others of the same sex. Willow blushed mightily and then knocked back her own shot. The others stared at her, and then Xander asked,

"Who, when?"

Willow was now inventing new shades of red and Buffy decided to help her out by answering for her,

"It was me. A few months ago before Angel got his soul back. I was drunk and kinda depressed at the time."

The others stared at the two friends for a moment. Then Buffy realised it was her turn,

"I never got hit by a car."

She then tossed her own shot back. The others stared at her and shrugged. Nobody ever said the slayer had to be exactly sane. It was now Angel's turn to ask a question. The vampire thought for a moment, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't end up embarrassing him completely.

"I never cut class."

The others stared at him for a moment and the entire group knocked their shots back. Oz then said,

"I never got chained up."

The entire group groaned and tossed pretzels at the werewolf as the game continued.

The next week, the group was in the office again. This time they were doing something very different. The three couples sat in Buffy's office, going over a huge pile of essays. Buffy groaned as she began another essay,

"I thought I specifically said it was to be no longer than two thousand words."

Angel turned to her,

"How long?"

Buffy sighed,

"Five thousand words."

Angel smiled,

"Hermione?"

Buffy nodded,

"Yep, damn overachievers."

Willow scowled,

"Hey, I'm just doing some empathetic hey-age for a fellow overachiever."

Buffy scowled,

"I have here a five thousand word essay on the vampire who killed my first watcher. I'm not feeling sympathetic to overachievers right now."

Angel smiled at her then winced,

"I think we have problems. I have Malfoy's essay."

Buffy turned to him,

"So, what's the problem?"

Angel grimaced,

"He did me for his essay."

Buffy shrugged,

"Well, you are rather infamous, somebody was bound to do you for their essay."

Angel nodded,

"I know. But this is Malfoy, it's just too suspicious."

Buffy was concerned now,

"Do you think he suspects anything?"

Angel shrugged,

"I don't know, but we can't take any chances. If he does suspect my identity, then I don't know what he'll do then. Chances are that he'll tell Voldemort and then the word will get back to Spike and Dru' that I'm back and that I have my soul back."

Buffy made a face,

"And if Spike and Dru' know you're back to being with the white hats, then that won't be good."

Angel shook his head,

"I'm not worried about Spike. He'll be pleased that I won't be around any more. No, it's Dru I'm worried about. She's crazy and I can never guess what she's gonna do next."

Buffy wrapped her arms around him,

"I know you feel guilty about Drusilla, but that wasn't you. We can only do what we can to make sure that the students here are safe."

Angel nodded,

"It's just hard."

Buffy kissed him softly and chastely.

"Don't worry. Malfoy can't be sure of who you are and the only way he can be certain is if we tell him."

Angel nodded,

"Yeah, it's just a bit suspicious."

Buffy smiled at him,

"If you want to talk about suspicious, you should see this other essay I got on William the Bloody. It was very detailed and extremely rude. I wondered if you knew anything about it?"

Angel shrugged,

"I hate Spike and I'm proud of that fact. I never pretended to like roller boy. I never even liked him when I had no soul. Why couldn't I have found Dru a nice deaf, blind mute to turn into a vampire? No, she had to turn William the Bloody awful poet. And then she had to encourage him."

Buffy smiled at him,

"Yes, well I'm sure we can find him a nice therapist to deal with his issues. Or maybe a tanning clinic."

The others laughed and turned back to marking the essays, unaware of the person listening outside of the office. Draco Malfoy stood outside the door listening to every word they said.

TBC.

****

AN: THERE WE GO. THIS IS MY LAST UPDATE BEFORE AUGUST. MY THERAPIST SAYS I MUST PRACTICE SELF-CONTROL. SO NOTHING ELSE UNTIL AUGUST.


	14. Chapter 14

****

AN: I'MMMMMMM BACK. HERE IS CHAPTER FOURTEEN FOR ALL YOU ANXIOUS PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN READING MY STORY. IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED, I HAD A GREAT TIME IN THE SUNSHINE STATE AND PICKED UP MANY NEW BOOKS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS, SOME OF WHICH CAN'T BE BOUGHT IN ENGLAND, THE LAND OF THE BORING. LOOKING FORWARD TO MY BIRTHDAY ON THE 20TH AUGUST. NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING BACK TO SCHOOL ON THE NINTH SEPTEMBER. ON A BETTER NOTE, MY BROTHER GOES BACK ON THE 31ST OF AUGUST, WHICH MAKES ME FEEL MUCH BETTER. WENT TO SEE CATWOMAN, BUT CAN'T GO AND SEE IT AGAIN UNTIL THE TWELTH, 'CAUSE, LIKE ALL GOOD THINGS, IT ISN'T OUT IN ENGLAND YET. ENOUGH FROM ME, CHAPTER FOURTEEN HERE FOR ALL THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN WAITING. TRUST ME, SO HAVE I. I WENT INTO WITHDRAWEL BY THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND WEEK. OH, AND IF I GET OVER A HUNDRED REVIEWS BY THE END OF THE WEEK, I'LL GET RID OF ANGEL'S CURSE BY MY BIRTHDAY. THAT'S A PROMISE.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T' OWN IT. HAVE A BANK BALANCE OF $70 AND A SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD BROTHER. IF YOU SUE ME, I KEEP THE FIRST AND YOU GET THE LATTER.

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER ON. THAT DEPENDS ON WHETHER I FIX THE CURSE OR NOT AND THAT DEPENDS ON HOW MANY REVIEWS I GET.

YOU MAY BE GUESSING A GENERAL THEME. LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU FOLKS:

IF YOU WANT MORE ANGEL SMOOCHIES AND BUFFY/ANGEL CUTENESS, THEN I WANT OVER A HUNDRED REVIEWS.

IN OTHER WORDS:

WANT MORE: SAY MORE.

SIMPLE HUH?

THAT REALLY IS THE END OF THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE. HERE IS THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER FOR ALL YOU WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING.

Chapter Fourteen

Draco Malfoy lay elegantly draped on a black leather sofa in the Slytherin common room. In his aristocratic fingers he held two sheets of parchment. The first piece was a letter from his father, the second the reply he'd written during history of magic, while all the other Slytherins were either sleeping of plotting.

He read over his father's letter one more time, still unsure of the final purpose of the letter. It read thus:

Son,

I have received reports from my connections that Harry Potter has returned to Hogwarts and the wizarding world in the company of the slayer and some of her friends. Due to the vagueness of the report I received I am ordering you to compile for our master all the information that you know. This information will be vital to the Cause and should be passed on to me as soon as you have compiled it properly. Most important is data on the Potter boy and the Slayer, but information on her friends would also be valuable.

Your Father

Lucius Malfoy esquire

Draco knew exactly what the letter meant on the surface. Crabbe and Goyle had told their fathers that Potter was at Hogwarts with the slayer and co. Crabbe and Goyle senior would have then passed that news on to his father, who would use the information to gain more power with Lord Voldemort. However, Crabbe and Goyle senior were just as stupid as their thuggish sons were. Draco's father was asking him to take his first step into the Dark Lord's service.

Five years ago, Draco Malfoy would have jumped at this chance to gain favour in the eyes of their lord. But now things were different. People were going to die, some already had, a boy from his school was dead. Draco Malfoy had had no problem with Cedric Diggory. He had been an intelligent handsome Hufflepuff, good at Quidditch and always fair, even to Slytherins, who were considered pariahs to the other houses. And he had died for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lucius Malfoy had taken great pleasure in describing the Dark Lord's resurrection to his son in extreme detail. Draco had been sickened by the entire affair. He had heard of the entire happening, from when his father had been summoned to the cemetary until Potter had used to TriWizard cup to return with Cedric's body to the school. He had heard about how Voldemort had used all three unforgivable curses on the boy. He had heard how the boy had not screamed, despite the pain. How he had thrown off the Imperius curse with little effort at all. And how he had blocked the unblockable Avada Kedavra with his wand. And he had heard how the ghostly figures of Potter's parents had appeared.

Draco couldn't imagine what that must have been like for the boy. No matter what Potter had become, he had been a fourteen year old boy then, barely into puberty. He knew Potter had no memory of his parents. To see them like that must have been unbearable. He had been disgusted by the drawn-out nature of the duel, when Voldemort could have killed the boy quickly. He had been disgusted by the snivelling cowardice of the Death Eaters, the way they had all bent to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes. How his father had got down in the mud to kiss the robes of a half-blood. How his father had recounted the tale like it had been an honour to get down on his knees to kiss the robes of a sadistic murderer.

Five years ago, Draco Malfoy would have also seen this as an honour. But until Hogwarts, the only people he had met were other Voldemort supporting purebloods and their children, most of the adults having been Death Eaters. He had grown up thinking the cause was the right thing to do. He had not thought to question his father and had known no other way of thinking,

Then Draco had met Harry Potter. He had wanted to impress the boy, become friends with him, for the Potters were an ancient and noble line, even if James Potter had married a muggle-born. He had also wished to be friends with the famous Harry Potter. He had introduced himself, taking pried in his heritage and held out his hand while Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him like the bodyguards they were.

But Potter had been in the carriage with Weasley and become friends with the other boy. He had sneered at Draco's hand and told him that he could make his own decisions. He had turned down an offer of friendship from the Malfoy heir because of a train journey of honest non-pretentious conversation from a boy whose family was constantly treading the thin line of poverty. Draco had not understood. He had been raised to believe that Malfoys had everything and Weasleys had nothing. Yet, this Weasley had gotten the thing he had wanted. It made no sense to him.

Then he had wondered if, maybe, his father had been wrong. That his bloodline did no immediately entitle him to have everything he wanted. But he had still wanted to impress his father and had been sorted into Slytherin as he had been told to. He had been told that Slytherin was the best house. But the rest of the school shunned the Slytherins. Nobody in Slytherin trusted anybody else and, despite the sorting hat's song, there were no 'real friends' amongst the serpents.

Over the years, he had stopped trusting what his father had told him. He made his own decisions and his own judgements. But he could not act upon them. He was well aware that Crabbe and Goyle were spying on him, reporting his every action and word to his father. And Draco Malfoy was terrified of his father. So he kept up appearances, played Potter's childhood rival with all the skill of a Malfoy and a Slytherin.

He now had no desire to become one of Voldemort's servants. But he was not stupid. He knew a war was coming. He would have to choose a side now or his heritage would force him onto a side he had no wish to be part of. He was a Malfoy and could not be neutral, but his conscience would not allow him to fight for Voldemort.

There was only one thing he could do in response to this. He could not sit on the fence any longer. He would have to go to Dumbledore. He would have to explain everything. Crabbe and Goyle were still in dinner as he had told them he was writing to his father and did not wish to be disturbed. He folded both parchments and placed them into a pocket of his robes. He then rose from the sofa and went to find Professor Snape, who was, if not a friend, an ally and would show him to the headmaster's office and then leave him there.

He was lucky. He found Professor Snape in his dungeon classroom, marking essays. He knocked smartly on the door. Professor Snape was irritated at being annoyed and snapped,

"Come in and close the door, Mr Malfoy."

Draco did so and Snape looked up at him in aggravation.

"Well, what is it? I've got a lot to mark."

Draco hoped his voice didn't tremble as he spoke,

"Professor, I have to see Professor Dumbledore immediately. I have had a letter that will be of importance to him. I don't know where his office is and I was hoping that you could tell me how to get there."

Professor Snape rose from his chair, all aggravation gone from his face,

"This letter is from your father, correct?"

Draco nodded. Snape stared at him for a long time, as if deciding whether or not he could be trusted. After a while, Snape spoke,

"Your father is asking you to spy for the Dark Lord?"

Draco nodded and Snape continued,

"And you are offering to become a double agent for Dumbledore?"

Draco shook his head and explained,

"I want nothing to do with the murderer. I do not wish to be responsible for the death of more innocents and, as a child, I will not be able to gather much useful information for Professor Dumbledore and his allies."

Snape stared at him again. Then, he slowly rolled up his sleeve, to reveal to glaring face of the dark mark on his arm. Draco didn't flinch at the sight of it, he had seen his father's many times. Then Snape rolled up the sleeve of his other arm. There was a golden phoenix emblazoned on the skin. Draco stared at it in amazement and reached out to touch it. Satisfied, Snape spoke,

"This is the mark of the order of the phoenix. It is based on intention magic. If it would have endangered me for you to see this, then it would have been invisible to you and no amount of magic could have revealed it. Come, I will take you to Dumbledore at once."

Snape strode out of his office, having rolled down both his sleeves as he spoke. Draco followed after him quickly.

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, absentmindedly stroking the feathers of his phoenix, Fawkes, as he read a report on the mood at the ministry from the auror Kinsley Shacklebot. The news was the same as always, the ministry was denying Voldemort's return and Lucius Malfoy was spending a great deal of time in the minister's private office. However, Kinsley also reported that most of the Aurors believed Dumbledore and Harry Potter. That, at least, was good news. If they had the Aurors on their side, then it would only be a matter of time before other members of the ministry started coming around to the cause.

Harry Potter presented another problem. It was only a matter of time before his true identity became public knowledge. Dumbledore didn't know what the reaction would be, but he was absolutely certain that it would not be a good one. A fool could tell that, but what Voldemort would do in response to this news was harder to divine.

He was disrupted from his reverie by a solid knock on his door. He felt professor Snape's presence outside the door through Leglimency, therefore, he left the report out on his desk as he replied for them to come in.

Severus Snape swooped into the office like the over-grown bat he resembled. Behind him, Draco Malfoy walked in more sedately. Albus gave the head of Slytherin house a strange look before he spoke,

"Professor Snape, I trust there is not a problem?"

Snape scowled, his favourite facial expression as well as his most common. Dumbledore fleetingly wondered who had risked the potions master's ire this time. Then the greasy-haired professor spoke, his voice icy.

"Mr Malfoy has something important to discuss with you."

Dumbledore turned his gaze onto the Malfoy heir, wondering idly what could be so important that the platinum haired prefect felt the need to talk to him.

"How may I help you, Mr Malfoy?"

Draco looked decidedly uncomfortable. He pulled a folded sheet of parchment out of the pocket of his robes and handed it to the headmaster. Dumbledore unfolded the letter and scanned the few short lines. The twinkle was gone from his eyes as he looked up at the two standing in front of him.

"Thank you for showing me this, Mr Malfoy. However, it would be advisable if we continued this discussion with Mr Potter and Miss Summers and her friends present. If you gentlemen would follow me I will go and inform them of the situation."

Draco nodded silently, he had not said a word since he had left Professor Snape's office five minutes ago. Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair with considerable and remarkable speed and grace for such an old man and walked out of the office, his embroidered robes swirling behind him. Professor Snape swept out after him and Draco shrugged before following the two professors to his fate.

As they walked down an endless maze of corridors, Draco began trying to guess which portrait would conceal the entrance to the quarters of the slayer and her companions. He noticed that they were getting closer to the Slytherin common room and found something entertaining about the Gryffindor golden boy rooming so near to the evil Slytherin snakes.

They turned down onto a narrow corridor lined with portraits that Draco had assumed only led to a small broom closet. The corridor was long and, as they neared the end, Draco heard raised voices coming from behind one of the portraits.

"…hate Halloween."

That was the voice of the slayer. Halloween was the following week and Draco wondered why the slayer hated it. Then Potter's voice could be heard,

"Buffy, Halloween is your only night off."

Draco raised an eyebrow at that, he had thought that slaying was pretty much a 24/7 thing, with no days off or sick leave. And it seemed unlikely that Halloween would be the only day the vampire slayer could take off. He had always considered Halloween to be the Mardi Gras for all things evil and slimy. Then the slayer spoke again,

"Angel, I would just like to point out what happened last Halloween."

Then another voice spoke, Draco recognised it as that of the dark haired girl dating the veritas,

"But that wasn't really monsters, though. That was just Giles' icky evil friend from when he was into the nasty ugly demon summoning."

There was a silent pause and then the older man that Draco had sometimes heard speaking in the library spoke,

"I would just like to remind you Cordelia, that no matter how good friends Ethan and I used to be, he is nothing more than another enemy now."

There was another pause and then the slayer continued,

"And it being Halloween didn't stop Spike. He tried to kill me anyway."

Potter spoke again,

"Spike never cared much for rules in the first place. And the prerogative to kill slayers is more important than any other tradition except obeying one's sire and one's blood mate."

The Harris boy spoke,

"And thank you for that insightful comment on vampire traditions. I thought that kind of information was Giles' domain."

A beat. Then Potter continued talking as if the other boy had never spoken.

"Anyway, nothing's going to happen here. If it makes it any better. I hate Halloween too."

The slayer seemed interested and asked,

"Why?"

Potter sighed audibly,

"My parents, well, my birth parents, were murdered on Halloween. I've had this intense dislike for it ever since."

There was a long silence,

"I'm so sorry, Angel."

The voices were loud now. Professor Dumbledore stopped the three of them outside a portrait of a younger version of the new Potter. He was glaring at the angrily and dressed in Slytherin robes. There was a Head-boy badge pinned onto his immaculate robes. The portrait was dated back from the 1700s. The scowling portrait snapped at them,

"Let's see. One greasy-haired git, one senile old man and an English bastard aristocrat. What do you want?"

The portrait spoke with a visible and audible sneer, as well as a strong Irish accent. Draco stared at the headmaster, to see how he would respond to the abusive comments. Dumbledore spoke calmly,

"If you don't mind, we'd like to come in Liam."

Liam rolled his eyes, if that were even possible for a portrait.

"And I want into Anna O'Grady's pants, but she's a tight frigid bitch. If you want in, English, you'll need the password."

Draco was shocked by this comment, but Dumbledore remained unflappable,

"Harris is an idiot."

The portrait scowled and rolled to one side to reveal the entrance to the slayer's quarters. Draco followed the two professors through the entrance and into the main chamber. He was amazed by what he saw there.

The Slayer lay sprawled out on a leather couch, her head in Potter's lap, attempting to mark homework. Potter sat at the other end of the sofa, reading a muggle novel called Northanger Abbey, he was absently stroking the slayer's hair while drinking a dark liquid from a steaming coffee mug on the table.

The red-head was playing chess with the grey-haired watcher and losing badly. The boy called Oz was sitting near to Willow and was strumming on a strange object that Draco recognised as a muggle guitar. The Chase girl was lying on another sofa and reading a magazine while her boyfriend gave her a foot massage.

None of them were wearing robes. But that was not unusual, as they had all stopped wearing robes during the day after the first week. The watcher was wearing a tweed suit. Potter was wearing his now customary ensemble of black leather trousers and a black silk shirt. The slayer was wearing a similar outfit, a pair of black leather trousers and a red velvet halter neck top.

The other four were also dressed in muggle clothes. Cordelia was wearing dark blue jeans and a crimson blouse. Willow was attractively dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a green cashmere sweater. It was obvious that the girls had chosen their respective boyfriend's clothes. Oz was wearing khaki slacks and a black t-shirt. Xander wore faded jeans and a blue crew-neck sweater.

All of them looked up as the three entered the room. They all appeared inquiring, but Potter was the one to speak,

"How can we help you Professor Dumbledore?"

He had put down his book and gently slid the Slayer's head out of his lap. He rose and gestured for the three of them to sit on the third sofa. Draco sat, staring around at the attractive room. Professor Dumbledore spoke as Draco stared around at the group of people. There was no tone of judgement in Potter's voice as he spoke, no sign that they had been enemies for four years.

"Mr Malfoy has received a letter that he has shown to me. I thought it imperative that you all saw it and decided on a course of action to take in response to it."

The others in the room were paying complete attention now. The slayer sat up as the older man and Willow and Oz came to join them. Draco reached into his pocket once more and handed the letter to Potter.

Potter read the letter quickly, too quickly, despite its shortness. His face was entirely expressionless as he handed the letter to the slayer. The others read the letter and passed it back to Professor Dumbledore, who sat calmly awaiting their responses.

Draco had always prided himself on his ability to read expressions, but he could see nothing in Potter. The man's face was a blank, expressionless mask. All the emotion in his eyes was carefully guarded. The expression on the Slayer's face was pure fury, tempered by very little patience. The watcher looked concerned and cautious, the others angry but enquiring. Potter spoke, his voice flat and without inflection.

"May I enquire, Mr Malfoy, as to how you will be replying to this letter?"

Draco reached into his other robe pocket and removed his reply, which was basically a development of what he told Snape earlier. The relief on the others' faces was obvious, but Potter remained unreadable.

"You do realise that this response will put you in serious jeopardy, not only from your father, but from all those supporting Voldemort's cause?"

Draco nodded, it wasn't like he was completely clueless as to how his father would respond to this letter. He would become a persona non grata among all Voldemort supporters before he could say Quidditch. Unfortunately that included a significant proportion of Slytherin house. In defence of Slytherin, it was not that the house was essentially evil, it was just that the children of deatheaters were ordered by their parents to be in Slytherin and their influence was nothing but impressive.

"As you will no longer be safe in Slytherin, it would be advisable if you found somewhere else to stay during the term time as well as the vacation."

Draco mentally made a face. He would probably have to move in with the Gryffindorks and stay with Weasley during the summer. He wasn't prejudiced against all Gryffindors or Weasleys, he just didn't get on with some of them. Potter continued, his voice still disgustingly neutral.

"So, I would recommend if you stayed here during the term time. We can have an extra room arranged for you or you can have mine, I do not require much sleep and can therefore sleep on a couch if necessary."

Dumbledore interrupted then, his voice just as smooth as Potter's.

"That will not be necessary, Harry. It will be very simple to have another room added here for Mr Malfoy. However, the matter still remains of where he is to live during the summer. I suppose we could send him to stay in Grimmauld place. He would be secure there and it would not be much questioned."

Harry shook his head,

"I doubt that would be practical, considering the house's current function and owner. I have a very large house in Sunnydale…"

The Harris boy snorted inelegantly and muttered,

"Very large house, my arse. It's a mansion and you know it."

Potter continued as if he had never been interrupted,

"Mr Malfoy would be welcome to have a room in my house during the summer months."

The Slayer was the one to interrupt this time,

"I don't think that would be good. I mean, it's not like you have a well stocked fridge. Faith's in my room at the moment, but Malfoy could have a guest room. My mom could do with the extra mumming. She's been feeling expendable and useless since the whole slayer thing blew up."

The watcher frowned,

"That would probably be wise, but where would you go, Buffy?"

The Slayer blushed an attractive shade of crimson and glanced at Potter,

"Well, we may have found a solution by then and there was this… Ah, screw it. Angel and I are engaged. If we manage to sort out the happy problem, then we're getting married and I'm moving in with him."

There was a silence during which the watcher removed his glasses and cleaned the lenses obsessively on his coat. Dumbledore spoke then,

"That would be a most amenable solution. I'll leave you all to get better acquainted and to finalise details. Mr Malfoy, I'll arrange for your things to be moved up here. Your room is ready for you. Professor Snape and I will leave you now."

With that the two professors rose from their seats and left the room. Draco sat in silence for a moment and then spoke,

"Well, Potter. Shall I call you Harry or Angelus?"

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

****

AN: CHAPTER FIFTEEN HERE. I HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL AND THEREFORE HAVE NOT WAITED FOR THE SPECIFIED ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS BEFORE WRITING THIS CHAPTER. I JUST ENJOY WRITING THIS TOO MUCH TO BE ABLE TO LEAVE IT ALONE FOR ANY SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT AND I NEVER WILL UNLESS THE WORLD TURNS INSIDE OUT AND MARILYN MANSON GETS MARRIED TO BRITNEY SPEARS, WITH TONY BLAIR CONDUCTING THE CEREMONY.

RATING: PG-13, MAYBE R LATER ON, BUT ONLY IF I GET ENOUGH REVIEWS TO GET RID OF THAT BREAK CLAUSE.

Chapter Fifteen

Everyone in the room stared at Malfoy. Angel would have paled if he had circulation, but as he didn't he settled for looking highly disturbed instead. Buffy did not pale; her cheeks flushed scarlet with fury. She rose from her seat on the sofa and started towards Draco,

"How did you? When did you? If you tell anyone… I swear I'll…"

Angel rose and laid a hand on Buffy's arm,

"Buffy, calm down. I'll deal with this."

He looked into her eyes until she subsided and sat back onto the sofa.

"Fine, you deal with it. I don't like it though."

Angel smiled at her and then turned back to Malfoy,

"I'm not going to ask how you know as it would be pointless and an insult to both of our intelligence. The important thing is, does anyone else know?"

Draco shrugged,

"I don't know. I only found out because I was outside your office when I heard you talking about it. I don't think that anyone else in Slytherin knows and the others houses wouldn't tell anyone. That's all I know. It was an accident that I found out and I was suspicious about it. You should be fine as long as you don't put out an advert."

Angel stared at him for a moment and then nodded,

"Okay, I believe you. But, if you tell anyone…"

The threat in Angel's tone was unmistakable and made those in the room who had known Angelus shiver. Draco shook his head,

"After what I just told you, would I tell anyone?"

Angel looked at him for a moment and then he said,

"I believe that you won't tell anyone. But you have to understand how dangerous my secret is."

Draco looked at him,

"I've just told my father that I won't nothing to do with the Dark Lord, what can possibly be more dangerous than that?"

Angel didn't smile,

"You could say I have a lot of enemies. Spike in particular would like nothing more than to have my dust in an urn. He and Dru will have probably allied themselves with the Dark Tosser. If they find out that I'm here then they'll come here. Spike and Dru would have no problem with killing every single person at this school. Dru's insane, I don't know what she'd do when she finds out, but Spike would try and kill me, I have no doubts about that. Dru would try and bring him back and we really really don't want that."

Draco stared at him,

"I'm not even going to pretend I have a clue what you're talking about, but I won't tell anyone. And if you're a vampire, aren't they supposed to have no souls?"

Angel winced,

"Vampires don't have souls. They are corpses possessed by demons that allow them to live forever. Their souls leave their bodies at the moment of death allowing the demon to enter them and take control. They have all the memories of the person they were, but none of their human emotions for the people they knew."

Draco stared at Angel and then at Buffy,

"So, you're a vampire and she's a vampire slayer. Why are you still alive?"

Both Buffy and Angel winced at that. Buffy was the one to speak, deciding to save Angel from having to talk about his soul and his curse,

"It's a long story."

Draco shrugged,

"Well, I don't much else to do and if you don't explain then I'll just end up asking questions I shouldn't."

Angel nodded,

"He's right Buffy. After what he did for us in not telling his father about me, he deserves the truth. Anyway, it's better this way."

Buffy nodded reluctantly,

"Okay, you can tell him. But don't blame me if anything happens."

Angel nodded,

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Draco stared at the two of them. He couldn't admit to having a clue about what was going on, but he knew that it was something big. Then Angel began to speak,

"I am a vampire and, when I was first made, I was just like every other vampire. I won't tell you what I've done, as you seem to have done excellent research into my actions as Angelus. You will then know what I was like as a vampire. But, about a hundred years ago, everything changed. I made the mistake of feeding off a Romany girl. She was about seventeen years old, maybe a bit younger. She wasn't exactly the cleverest girl I've ever met, but she was a favourite of her clan. They cursed me in punishment. They returned my soul and all my memories of what I'd done."

Draco interrupted him,

"What, were they all out of suppurating boils and oozes."

Angel shook his head,

"That kind of thing would have been a mercy in comparison. As a vampire you feel no compassion for the people you kill. They just become another meal. You feel nothing. The act of feeding, it's an amazing feeling if you have no compassion for the person you are feeding from. You have read about the kind of vampire that I was before I was cursed. And I was more than an ordinary vampire. I was a master vampire, unmatched in violence and brutality. I was one of the eldest members of one of the most powerful vampire clans on the planet. And I took delight in all the pain and torture, both mental and physical, that I perpetrated. I longed for it. I became a master in all aspects of torture. And I loved it, in the only way that vampires can love anything. I had only two passions, for blood and for my sire, the vampiress Darla. I killed everyone I had ever loved as a human and everyone that they loved. And then my soul was returned."

Angel stopped for a moment and Buffy wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. His eyes were rimmed in crimson tears as he continued,

"They cursed me with my soul, with the human emotions I had lacked as a vampire. I had all the memories of how I had killed and tortured all the people I had loved, and anyone else who caught my attention. I had killed to feed and also because I just felt like it. I had drunk from the master of Clan Aurelius. My power was unimaginable; I rarely needed to feed at all. I killed because I wanted to, I killed because it gave me pleasure. I was given back a conscience and all my memories off the one hundred and fifty years I had been a vampire and I felt a human's grief for what I had done. Every person I had killed haunted me, and I had killed hundreds, maybe thousands, I don't know."

There was a pause and not just Draco was listening to Angel's words. Buffy and Angel had long since spoken of these events and feelings, but the Scoobies knew nothing of the true meaning of Angel's curse. Even Giles, with all his knowledge, knew nothing of the real consequences of the curse. Angel continued,

"I remembered killing the people who had found and raised me when I arrived in the past. I remembered the torture, everything I'd ever done. I went to America about eighty years ago, after the First World War. I had been in France before and had fought in the trenches, fought for both sides. I had tried to end the conflict, but there was nothing I could do. It was so, so senseless. There was nothing to be gained by the men who actually fought. I ran as far as I could, I stopped running in New York. I lived in an alley. I fed off rats, eating barely enough to stay alive. I think that by the end I was eating one rat a week. I don't know if you've ever seen what a vampire looks like if they don't feed. It's not pretty. I looked barely more than a corpse. Then he came."

Angel paused as Buffy swore softly under her breath, then he continued,

"I am perfectly aware of your feelings concerning Whistler, but he was the one who showed you to me. He told me that you were about to be called as the Slayer. He said that I had a greater destiny that what I had become. He said that my destiny was to help you, that your destiny was intertwined with mine, He said that I could redeem myself, that I could become someone. In the end I went with him, I followed Buffy. I lurked and watched her as she was called, I saw her come to terms with her destiny as the slayer. Then I followed her to Sunnydale. That was when I first introduced myself to her. Buffy found out what I was. Darla had come to Sunnydale for her sire, the Master. She found me there and tried to bring me back to her side. She tried to get me to kill Buffy. When she failed in that, she tried to kill Buffy herself. I killed her before she could do that. Then the master rose and killed Buffy. I couldn't do anything to help her. I had no breath to give her CPR. Xander did CPR and brought her back to life."

Buffy flinched at this part. She may have mostly recovered from her death, but it was still not something she particularly enjoyed talking about. But she wanted to talk about the next part of Angel's story even less. Angel continued, knowing that this part of the tale would be the hardest to tell,

"But, my curse was more complicated than I had suspected or ever imagined. If I were ever to experience a moment of true happiness, then my soul would be banished back to the aether. Angelus would return. I experienced that true happiness with the woman that I loved. My demon was in control once again. But it was more complicated than that. Angelus came back wrong. In the years of being suppressed by my soul, the demon had gone completely insane. I, he, did awful things, more than I would like to recount, then I tried to end the world. Buffy stopped me by sending me to the hell dimension that would have otherwise consumed the earth. But even then it was not that simple. There had been a woman from the clan of gypsies that had cursed me. She was attempting to perform the curse to return my soul. I killed her. But she had left the curse in her office. Willow found it and attempted to perform the curse on me. The curse was successful, but by the time it had been performed, it was too late. The vortex to the hell dimension was opening and killing me was the only way to close it. Time passes differently in that dimension and I spent five hundred years there before I was able to apparate out of it. It was not an easy feat to accomplish and one I never wish to attempt again. The magical backlash of this was what led Professor Dumbledore to me. After that, you know what happened."

There was complete silence in the room as Angel finished his tale. Those in the Scooby gang who hadn't known the complete story were just as shocked by it as Draco, who had known none of it. Buffy had wrapped her arms completely around Angel and was burrowed into his chest. There was a long moment before Draco spoke again,

"Well, that explains a lot. So, I'm guessing you're trying to find a way to make sure Angelus never comes back?"

Everyone nodded and Draco continued,

"Need any help?"

The weeks passed quickly after this. Draco did help the folks from Sunnydale try and find a solution to the curse problem, but there was no obvious one that any of them could see. Willow was making little progress with her translation of the original curse and their studies of the books provided no help except to inform them of the strength of the gypsy magic, which they already were all too aware of anyway.

Buffy felt helpless. They were making no progress and every day it was becoming harder to remind herself to stay away from Angel in that way. The temptation was getting stronger and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she gave in to it. She could only hope that Angel would be strong enough for both of them, otherwise it would be far too late for both of them.

In other ways they were also making little progress. She had moved on to the physical part of her teaching course and few of her students were making any progress whatsoever. A few were showing some talent, but they all relied far too much on their magic and their wands to make any real progress in defending themselves without the assistance of their magic.

However, things were not all as bad as they seemed. Willow was making huge leaps in her magical studies and her skills in Wiccan magic were also greatly improving. Oz had gone to talk to Professor Snape before the first full moon and the potion's master was now making him the potion that he required. This made full moons a lot easier for all of them.

Buffy just felt restrained, like nothing was happening. In her time as the slayer she knew this to be a sign that something big was about to happen and that it wasn't going to be good. The phrase, the calm before the storm seemed to be far too appropriate to think about at that time.

Then, one day, it happened.

Willow had been searching through her books, attempting, as always, to find a solution for Angel. The others lay around idly. Draco was doing a piece of Arithmancy homework, which Angel was assisting him with. Buffy was sharpening a stake while sitting on the couch. Oz was playing his guitar softly while Cordelia and Xander were making out. Giles was assisting Willow in the research.

Willow shrieked, making them all jump. She rose to her feet, clutching a book to her chest. She cried out,

"I've found something."

Everyone crowded around her, their lethargy instantly gone as the witch opened the book out in front of her and pointed out the passage she had been studying. There seemed to be little difference between this book and all the others, but Angel and Buffy studied the page intently. Willow explained what she had found out for the others, who could not see the book,

"Apparently, the curse the gypsies used on Angel the first time was a modified version of the curse. This was the curse I used as well. Apparently, Angel was not the first to be cursed, but the others had all dusted themselves as soon as they regained their memories of what they had done. This curse is the original one, the one that the gypsies based their curse upon. It contains no break clause and is easier to perform."

Angel and Buffy had finished reading and turned back to Willow,

"What's the catch?"

Willow stared at them, then turned back to the book,

"There doesn't appear to be any catch. It just says that this curse will return the soul to a vampire."

Angel sighed,

"There's the catch. I don't need my soul returned, I just need it bound, permanently."

Willow sighed,

"I see the problem. If we bound your soul to your body then your soul would remain behind after you died and that wouldn't be good."

The others groaned and made to turn back to what they were doing then Willow gasped,

"I know, if we contain you after getting rid of your soul, then we can simply just do this new curse on you then."

Buffy and Angel shook their heads and Angel said,

"No, I won't bring him back, not even for the time it takes to cast that spell, it's just too risky. There is a chance that he'd escape and that would be catastrophic for all of us. He's insane and the time in hell will have made him even more so that before. There had to be another way."

Buffy nodded in agreement with Angel,

"I agree. For one thing I don't know how we'd bring him back other than the perfect happiness thing. If there's no other way we might consider doing this, but it has to be only as a last resort."

Seeing that Buffy and Angel were in perfect agreement over this point, Willow sighed and returned to her books. There just had to be another way to do this.

It was a few days before the start of the Christmas holidays before the problems really began. They were all in the great hall having dinner when it happened. This was a few days after the incident when they had discovered the other curse and Buffy and Angel were still adamant about only using it as a last resort.

Tension was still high amongst the group as Buffy and Angel found it more and more difficult to keep away from each other. Draco didn't understand as much of what was going on, but he made sure that he didn't interfere or get in the way of any of the arguments that Buffy and Angel were having.

Those arguments were becoming all the more frequent now. The tension between the two was obvious and painful for all those who got in their way. They sat apart at dinner now, the tension between them making it too difficult for them to sit next to each other without fighting over something. There were now sitting as far away from each other as possible at the staff table.

The doors swung open, slamming against the walls of the great hall. The students screamed in fear as twenty vampires entered the hall; game faces to the fore. Buffy and Angel were on their feet in an instant. They worked flawlessly together, their movements co-ordinated entirely. They had staked fifteen vampires by the time another figure appeared in the doorway.

Buffy and Angel looked up at the figure and gasped. The figure was all too familiar to both of them. He was not very tall and was very slim. He was dressed in black jeans and a black silk shirt. Over this he wore a black leather duster similar to the one Angel was wearing. He had peroxide blond hair spiked up off his head. His cheekbones were so defined as to appear almost blade-like in his pale face.

The figure smirked as he saw Buffy and Angel. He opened his mouth to display long fangs. His eyes were demonic amber and his face was contorted into demonic features. He spoke, his voice a sneer,

"And if it isn't Peaches and Fluffy the Vampire Layer."

Angel growled at this and started towards his grande-childe. Spike groaned,

"Oh, wonderful. You've got a bloody soul again. I don't want to have to tell Dru about this."

Most of the people in the hall were confused as Angel approached Spike and stood in front of him. The two were so similar yet so much each other's opposite. Angel was dressed in a black leather duster, leather pants and a carmine velvet shirt. They both wore black boots and dusters, but the similarities stopped there.

Then Angel's face morphed into his demonic visage and more screams echoed around the hall. Buffy sensed that Angel and Spike were just about to start to fight, she stalked up to the two snarling, growling vampires. She stood in between them and glared at both of them.

"Angel, that is quite enough. Spike, I thought I made it perfectly clear that I never wanted to see your face again?"

Spike shrugged.

"Don't blame me, Slayer. You said I could never go back to Sunnyhell and I didn't. It's not like I thought you would be here."

Then the blonde vampire saw the others from Sunnydale,

"Oh, great, the whole gang's here. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be rotting in hell, Peaches?"

Angel growled,

"That's none of your business boy. Why are you here then?"

Spike smirked,

"Oh, Dru went back to that Moldy guy. I'm with him as well 'cause Dru said I'm not demon enough for her. She's sleeping with some chaos demon. After everything I did for her. We're here to kill some kid named Harry Potter. I came along so I could cause some merry mayhem as well. Anyway, hand over the bloody idiot and we can all go back to our normal unlives."

Angel smirked,

"You have no idea, boy. I am Harry Potter."

Spike would have paled if that were possible. Two of his henchmen were sneaking closer to the three and Buffy whirled, a stake in each hand. She watched the two vampires approaching and then ran forward. The vamps came towards her, one on each side. She held out the two stakes and slammed one into the heart of each vampire. Two clouds of dust surrounded her.

The other three minions approached her then and she somersaulted backwards. She came down on top of one and placed her hand in his hair. She pulled his head right off of his body, causing him to explode into a cloud of dust. The other two paused, slightly shocked by the brutality of this display. Buffy ran forward towards them, pulling a knife out of its sheath at the base of her spine. She span towards them, a whirl of living death. She sliced the knife down the first henchman's arm and the limb smoked as the vampire screamed. The holy water she had soaked the knife in burned the vampires flesh. She brought the knife up and sliced through the vampire's thick neck. The flesh burned as the vampire screamed. Then the head was off and the vampire's screams stopped as he turned into a cloud of dust. Buffy turned to the only remaining henchman. The vampire turned and tried to run from her.

She brought a stake up to her side and ran towards the vamp. She caught up with him easily, the vampire had obviously only recently been turned. She slammed the stake straight into the vampire's unbeating heart. The final fledgling turned into just another cloud of dust. Buffy smirked,

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. In the end, they're always just another cloud of dust."

Spike turned and fled from the hall, slamming the doors shut behind him. Buffy turned to Angel,

"Do you reckon he'll tell Voldemort?"

Angel shrugged,

"He might. Or he might just take Dru off somewhere until she agrees to sleep with him again. It all depends. It doesn't really matter that much now. The secret's out. Good idea with the holy water on the knife by the way."

Buffy shrugged,

"It seemed to be a good idea at the time. I was getting board and had no stakes to sharpen. I thought I might as well. Oh, and you can change back now."

Angel looked slightly sheepish as his face returned to its human visage. The hall was in silence for a long moment before everyone started screaming. All except a few of the Gryffindors and one ex-Slytherin.

Then the hall doors swung open once again. In walked Minister Fudge, flanked by Professor Umbridge and some Ministry officials that Angel didn't recognise. Professor Umbridge was smirking so much that she looked like an overgrown toad. Then Angel flinched. He fell to one knew as he heard all his worst memories. This was a feeling that was far too familiar to him, yet it had been centuries since he had felt it.

Six dementors swept into the room. Angel looked to one side and saw that Buffy was panting and had fallen to her knees beside him. Minister Fudge spoke then,

"Angelus, you are under arrest for multiple cases of murder, first degree. You will be subjected to the Dementor's kiss immediately."

TBC…

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AN: CLIFFHANGER, I'M EVIL. EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL IS WHAT I AM. CIAO.


	16. Chapter 16

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AN: CHAPTER SIXTEEN HERE. I REALLY HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL WHATSOEVER. IT'S WEIRD THOUGH, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO MATTER ANYMORE. I WAS ALWAYS TELLING MYSELF TO BE IN CONTROL OF WHAT I DID. NOW I JUST WANT TO WRITE MORE OF THIS STORY SO I KNOW HOW IT ENDS. I WAS QUITE PLEASED WITH THE CLIFFHANGER I LEFT LAST TIME, SO I THOUGHT I'D CONTINUE IT THE NEXT DAY INSTEAD OF WAITING A WEEK OR TWO LIKE I NORMALLY WOULD. REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT, I DON'T EVEN OWN THIS LAPTOP, IT'S ONE OF MY DAD'S OLD ONES THAT HE LET ME HAVE AFTER MY BROTHER WAS FINISHED WITH IT.

RATING: PG-13 MAYBE R LATER ON, ESPECIALLY AFTER THIS CHAPTER, CHUCKLES.

Chapter Sixteen

There was complete silence in the hall. The people were barely breathing; you could hear everything that was going on in the room. There were a few faint whimpers from terrified students, mostly the first and second years, who had not been there the year when the Dementors had been guarding the school.

Other than that there was only the harsh breathing of the Dementors, coupled by the eerie swishing of their long black robes. Angel could not speak; the torrent of memories was so heavy. The voices pawed at his mind, every single person he had every killed. He had thought that nothing in the world could be worse than hell, but this was beyond that. The pain from this was too much. He felt rather than saw the Dementors coming closer to him.

He didn't really hear Buffy's scream, but he knew that it happened. He could feel her beside him, shaking with fear. He had not ever known anything that could make Buffy like this, even when she had been recovering from being killed by the Master. She was petrified with fear, but not for herself. Angel recognised that abstractedly. She was afraid for him.

The Dementors surrounded him. He had thought he would be able to accept his second death, but this was not death. He knew what would happen. The Dementors would suck out his soul. Angelus would come back. He had to tell Buffy. He had to let her know what was about to happen. He had to make her understand that she would have to kill him after this. He opened his mouth, yet no noise came out. He finally managed to croak out,

"Buffy… you… have to. My soul…The Dementors… they will… my soul… Buffy… He's going to… come back."

Buffy paled even more, if that were possible. She was already as pale as a sheet from her memories dragged up by the Dementors. It was obvious that the only thing keeping her conscious was the sheer indomitable strength of will that Angel had always admired so much. But her fear for Angel made her pale even more. She sat up and pushed through the Dementors surrounding Angel. He pushed himself up onto his knees.

She wrapped her arms around him. They slowly sagged towards the floor. The Dementors surrounded them, coming closer every minute. One of them pushed Buffy to one side. It was only the influence of the Dementors that allowed them to force her away from her soul mate. One of the other Dementors hooked their robed arms under Angel's silk garbed sleeves. They jerked him to his feet. One Dementor supported him at either side.

Another Dementor approached him them. This one was obviously the leader of the Dementors. Minister Fudge was smiling; a smile that reminded Angel of a self-satisfied idiot, well, minister Fudge was a self-satisfied idiot, so that made sense. The lead Dementor lowered its tattered black hood. Angel looked straight into the contorted face. He didn't scream. He was no longer afraid for himself, only for Buffy.

But then the Dementor leant towards him and he was afraid. He was also oddly amused by the irony, as one always is at times of peril. After all the struggle between him and Buffy to not lose control and free his demon, someone else was going to suck his soul out. Then the Dementors lowered his face to Angel's and there was no irony, only fear. Abstractedly he heard Buffy scream his name in fear. He heard Giles and the others swear in knowledge of what was to happen next.

Then, all he could feel was the Dementor's cold lips. Then there was the hollow pain of his un-needed breath being sucked away. Then the Dementor inhaled once again and that pain disappeared. He screamed then, screamed as he had not screamed since that fateful night almost a year ago when he had lost his soul. It was a familiar pain now; the heart-rending pain as he soul was sucked out of his body

He had thought that nothing could hurt more than the knowledge of what Angelus had done to Buffy and her friends. He had been wrong. This hurt more than anything he had ever known. And he knew what would happen next. Angelus would awaken and wreak havoc once again. He shivered as he recalled what his demon had planned for Buffy.

He could only hope that Buffy would be strong enough to stake him before anything bad happened. Then he could feel nothing at all.

Buffy watched the Dementors suck out Angel's soul as if everything were moving in slow motion. She could only stand helpless as she saw his body collapse to the ground. The Dementors drew back, away from this body that was now of no use to them at all.

Buffy screamed in pure pain. It was the scream of an animal separated from her mate. This could not be happening. They had not had long enough together. They had not found a solution to Angel's curse… Angel's curse. That was it. She shook off all her fear, denied all her pain. There were more important things now.

She stood. She had fallen to her knees when the Dementors had moved away from Angel's corpse. She turned to her friends, all business now. She snapped out orders, a slayer in her element,

"Willow, get the ingredients for the original curse, the one that you found in that book. Draco, I want everyone who came with the Dementors stunned and tied up. Giles there are enchanted chains under my seat at the table, bring them here. We need to tie Angelus up before he wakes up. From what Angel told me about what happened last time, it will not be long before he wakes."

The others moved to carry out their orders. But there was one factor Buffy had forgotten about: Professor Dumbledore. She was locking the cuffs of the enchanted chains she had stolen from Dru's room around Angel's wrists when she looked up.

Willow was seated on one of the house tables, she noted abstractedly that it was the Slytherin table. Xander, Cordelia and Oz were keeping the terrified yet fatally curious students at bay. Giles was assisting Willow with the spell, mostly sorting through and handing her the necessary ingredients. If they hadn't needed the spell done in such haste, then Willow would have been more than capable of completing the entire spell with no assistance. Draco was standing over the stunned members of the ministry, having summoned ropes to bind them with. He looked disturbingly pleased with himself.

Professor Dumbledore was furious, not with Buffy and her friends, but with the ministry. His robes were swirling around him with an unseen wind. His power crackled around him and those in the hall understood why he was the only one that Voldemort had ever feared. He strode towards the Dementors and raised one hand towards them. White light emanated from his palm. The six Dementors cowered away from the pure light that surrounded them. Then they just disappeared. They disintegrated away.

It was as if this was a signal. Screams filled the hall. A pure white light flowed away from the Dementors, not the same light as had disintegrated them. This was different, more powerful, more alive. The light swirled around the few remaining particles of the Dementors, then flowed over towards the orb of Thesulah that Willow held in front of her.

Buffy stared at the light, standing up from her position by Angel's prone body. She gazed at the light as it flowed into the orb, filling it with silver mist. She gasped

"Is that Angel's soul?"

Willow nodded at her, holding the orb like the priceless treasure that she knew it to be. Buffy stared into the orb for a long time, then spoke again,

"It's beautiful. I always knew it would be."

Then she lifted the end of the chains she had used to tie Angel with and hooked them over a lantern sconce. Angel's corpse hung prone for a moment, then he began to shake. Buffy turned to Willow and snapped,

"Will, he's coming around. Get on with it before it's too late."

Buffy retrieved her holy water soaked blade from the floor and approached the body of the demon inhabiting her lover's body. Angel's eyes snapped open. It was not Angel any more. The soul was gone from his eyes; the grief, sorrow and love had vanished entirely. Angelus, for that was who it was, smirked at her,

"Hello, Buff'. You and soul-boy got round to chains already, have you?"

Buffy scowled at him. Then the vampire gazed around the hall,

"Ah, if it isn't Hogwarts. This brings back memories. And gives me ideas. When I get free then I'll have a lot of fun here."

Buffy didn't flinch,

"If you even try to escape, I'll kill you."

Angelus smirked,

"You can't kill me. You love the souled idiot too much for that."

Buffy's gaze didn't waver; neither did the hand holding firmly onto the deadly knife,

"You seem to be forgetting something, lover. I sent you to hell for five hundred years. And Angel was in control when I did that. You should know I will not hesitate to kill you now."

Angelus flinched slightly as he recalled those five hundred years. Although Angel had been in charge during that period, it had been painful for the demon as well. Then he spotted Willow as well and smirked,

"Hello Willow. How've you been?"

Willow shivered at the malice in Angelus' voice, but she didn't stop working on the spell as she answered,

"A lot better since we got rid of you. And you know what the best part is? When I've finished doing this, you'll never be able to come back. You'll have to take the back seat for the rest of eternity. We've won Angelus; you're never coming back. You can't hurt us any more."

Angelus flinched at this answer, for he recognised the truth in the Wicca's statement. Buffy stared at him for a long time.

"See something you like, lover?"

Buffy scowled,

"In your dreams. I was just thinking about how different you and Angel are."

Angelus scowled,

"Don't waste your breath on that pathetic weakling. You belong to me, not him."

Buffy frowned at him,

"I belong to no-one, Angelus. Don't forget that. And if I did belong to someone, it would be Angel not you."

Angelus frowned, but quickly regained his composure,

"You've got a big mouth slayer. I can think of better uses for it. Who should I kill first? That Harris boy? The Cheerleader? Or maybe the watcher? Yes I think I'll give ole Rupert the heave-ho. Then I'll show you just who you belong to, Buff."

Buffy didn't flinch; she merely smiled as she saw Willow finish the incantation. The white light that was Angel's soul fled the orb and returned to Angel's body. Angelus could see and feel it coming and a look of panic settled on his face. Buffy smirked and said,

"You've lost, Angelus."

Angelus screamed in thwarted fury. Then he was silent. Angel slumped in the chains and then looked up,

"Buffy, I'm really sorry."

Buffy smiled,

"You didn't do anything. The only person who should be sorry is unconscious against that wall. Angel, Willow used the other curse, the one we found in that book. Your soul is bound, permanently. He can never come back, no matter what."

Angel stared at her,

"You're serious?"

Buffy nodded and wrapped her arms around him. She reached up to undo the cuffs around his wrists. Xander frowned at her,

"Hey, how do we know this is the real dead-boy?"

Buffy and Angel exchanged glances,

"We know."

Xander scowled, but didn't say anything more as Buffy reached up and undid the chains restraining Angel. Angel stumbled slightly as he collapsed from the chains. Then he gasped and pressed his hand against his chest. Buffy frowned,

"Angel? Are you okay?"

Angel smiled at her, a real smile that made Buffy's heart clench.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm better than fine, actually. It just feels so different. I can barely hear him anymore. It's amazing."

Buffy smiled up at him. Then she screamed with joy and jumped up into his arms. She wrapped herself around him, tucking her ankles around his waist and her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist. They pressed their heads together. Then Buffy kissed him, nothing serious at first, just a joyful declaration of their new freedom.

Then they separated and started pressing joyous kisses against each other, kissing every part of the other that they could reach out to. Then Buffy unwrapped her legs from around his waist. Angel swung her around, laughing. Then Angel reluctantly lowered Buffy back to her feet. She immediately snuggled against him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

Angel approached Willow, where she sat on the Slytherin table, still exhausted by the effort of returning a vampire's soul. Buffy stayed with him all the time, both of them rejoicing in this new level of contact. Willow slowly climbed down from her position from on top of the table, which had been happily clear of food before she had sat there. She walked towards Buffy and Angel and then stood uncomfortably a few feet away from the rejoicing couple. Then two strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, one male, one female. She gasped as Buffy and Angel pulled her into a hug. She felt her breath being squeezed out of her as both preternaturally strong creatures hugged her with joy. She felt Angel's chin resting in her hair and heard his whisper,

"Willow, I… we can never thank you enough for what you just did."

Willow smiled,

"Don't worry about it. I've wanted to do some Wicca style magic for a while anyway. And you and Buffy have saved my life more times than I want to count. Anyway, we got to piss off Angelus for a bit as well. That was fun. And breathing is really becoming an issue now."

Angel seemed embarrassed and both he and Buffy let her go, though reluctantly. Angel and Buffy, however, remained attached at the hip, neither one of them willing to let the other go, even for a minute. It was more than obvious that they both wanted nothing more than to be alone together. Willow blushed slightly as she imagined what they would do once they were alone together.

She smiled up at them,

"Buffy, Angel's probably feeling weak after what he just went through. He should probably get some rest for a while. We won't get started on any serious discussions until you rejoin us."

Both Slayer and Vampire stared at her. She flushed slightly under their combined gaze. Then the two turned and practically ran from the room. The look on Xander's face as he watched them leave was one of slight nausea,

"Willow, I can't believe you just did that."

Willow flushed slightly under their gaze and then straightened up slightly,

"Well, after what's just happened, they deserve to have a lucky break for once. The rest of the time the whole world's against them having any happiness together."

Cordelia agreed, once again showing that, in the face of male disapproval, all women will come together, no matter how much they might not get on normally. Xander made a sound that may have been another protest, so Cordelia smacked him over the head. Xander whimpered and held up his hands in the universal sign of giving in. Cordelia and Willow frowned at him.

Then Professor Dumbledore asked the question that most of the hall was just wondering,

"May I ask just what happened?"

Willow flushed again,

"Ah..well. Those Dementor things took Angel's soul. So he became Angelus again, which is major on the badness. Then I used this new curse I'd found and restored Angel's soul. But this is a different curse to the one used originally by the gypsy tribe that cursed Angel a hundred years ago. There's no break clause on this curse. Angel and Buffy should be back within an hour or something. We'd better get these morons chained up."

As Willow said this, she gestured to the prone bodies of the minister and his accomplices. Dumbledore nodded and levitated the five ministry members. He floated the five bodies out of the door of the hall and then turned back to the terrified students,

"Please be perfectly calm. There is absolutely nothing to be worried about. Prefects, take your students back to their houses."

With that, Dumbledore turned and followed the levitating bodies out of the great hall, the Scooby Gang following around him. Not knowing quite where to go, Draco looked around for a moment, before following the crowd of Gryffindors.

TBC..

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AN: JUST A SHORT CHAPTER THIS TIME. MORE UPDATES UP SOON


	17. Chapter 17

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AN: CHAPTER SEVENTEEN HERE. I AM NOT GOING TO WRITE A LEMON FOR BUFFY AND ANGEL, COS I CAN'T PUT IT UP ON WITHOUT LOSING MY ACCOUNT LIKE ON OF MY FRIENDS DID. HOWEVER, IF ANYONE WANTS ONE, LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN A REVIEW AND I WILL SEND IT OUT TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

ON A FURTHER NOTE; ENGLAND SUCKS AND MY BEST FRIEND HAS GONE OFF TO FRANCE WITH BOTH OF MY ANGEL SANCTUARY MANGA.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN IT, GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE, MOAN, MOAN, MOAN.

RATING: PG-13, BUT A LEMON IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST FOR THOSE WHO WISH SUCH A THING OF ME.

JUST ON A FURTHER NOTE: THERE IS NO CURSE ANY MORE. THERE, I'VE SAID IT. BUFFY AND ANGEL CAN NOW DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. SCREW YOU JOSS WHEDON.

Chapter Seventeen

Giles say in the headmaster's office, smiling. He could not help himself. He was very glad for Buffy and Angel. He was also glad for the rest of them as well. The tension between vampire and slayer had been getting to such levels that even an idiot, otherwise known as Xander Harris, could feel it.

He knew that Buffy had expected him to be angry about Angel coming back. He knew that his slayer had expected them all to be angry about it. He had been slightly angry at first, but more hurt that she had not confided with him immediately. He had been very hurt by Jenny's death, they all had, but Giles most of all.

But he knew that Angel had not done it. He had developed a strange friendship with the vampire before the loss of his soul and knew the difference between man and demon. His reticent British nature had stopped him from openly showing any emotion about seeing Angel again, yet he had been glad for Buffy. Without her lover, Buffy had been only half there. Even when he was Angelus, Buffy had relied on his constant presence.

The only other person whose reaction he had worried about was Xander. Yet the boy had proven himself to be more sensible than he appeared. But, maybe it made sense. Xander had been the one always telling Buffy how different Angel and Angelus were from each other. The boy had many faults, jealousy being one of them, but he was no hypocrite and was loyal to his friends up until death.

Despite Xander's protestations, he knew that the boy considered Angel one of his friends. On many other occasions previously, the boy had asked the vampire's help and opinion. In reality, the two worked well together, brought together by their common love of Buffy. And Xander's relationship with Cordelia was certainly making an improvement in the situation of the jealousy the boy held for the vampire.

Giles was glad of this. He knew that the skills and experience Angel provided to their team were invaluable, as was his relationship with the slayer. It was more than likely that, if Angel left now, then Buffy would follow. But Xander was important to them as well and not just because of his borrowed military experience that had helped them so in defeating the Judge. Xander could make them laugh. It might have seemed inappropriate for them to laugh, but there was a graveyard humour about it, laughing so that they didn't cry.

Giles stared at the prone forms of the minister and his cronies and scowled. He felt himself returning to his old, Ripper mindset. The fools had had no idea what they were doing. Administering the Dementor's kiss to a vampire was idiocy and suicidal in Angel's case. And attempting to capture a Master Vampire with only six assistants… He almost wished Angelus had drained them dry.

Professor Dumbledore also looked unimpressed with the actions of the bumbling idiot who was the minister for magic. But the headmaster was concerned about other things as well. The man was obviously attempting to cover it up, but Giles prided himself upon his ability to read people's expressions. Well, people who weren't American teenagers, anyway. Dumbledore spoke, his voice deliberately neutral,

"I must confess to being somewhat curious as to what exactly occurred in the Great Hall."

The words were carefully chosen and worded so as to not sound like the order of an explanation that they were. But Giles had grown up in the duplicitous environment of the watchers' council and knew, and had used, every trick in the trade. Keeping his voice non-committal, the watcher answered.

"I believe that any explanations would better be saved until Buffy and Angel are ready to join us."

Dumbledore's expression was perfectly schooled, but his impatience was obvious as he asked,

"And when will Angel and Miss Summers be able to join us?"

Xander snorted and Cordelia and Willow elbowed him. It was obvious that they only did this as reflex, because their amusement was also plain. Cordelia answered the headmaster in her typical blunt fashion,

"Romeo and Juliet are off celebrating the fact that they no longer have curse problems. They won't be down for ages and I really wouldn't want to be one of these ministry idiots when they do get here."

The others nodded their agreement and Willow said,

"Yeah, Hurting Angel, good way to get into the slayer's book of bad very quickly."

The others smirked and imagined what interesting punishments the highly pissed-off slayer would come up with when she arrived down here. Even Giles smiled slightly as he considered the ideas his slayer might come up with, Buffy was not sadistic or vindictive under normal circumstances, but where Angel or any one of her friends was concerned, she had no qualms about what she did and could be highly inventive.

The watcher leant forward and said calmly,

"I doubt Buffy and Angel will be along for a while, so we may as well find ways to distract ourselves while we wait for them to arrive. Professor, do you play chess?"

Professor Dumbledore stared at him for a moment, then smiled and brought out a chessboard. The two men set up their game and began to play. The others shrugged slightly and then arranged themselves comfortably on the floor and began to trade ideas about what Buffy and Angel would do to the minister and his cronies. 'Professor' Umbridge made the mistake of regaining consciousness as they discussed this and promptly passed out again.

Buffy had lost track of the amount of time they had been there.

She didn't really care when she thought about it, though. All that mattered was Angel's hard naked body wrapped around hers. They were in Angel's room now. The crimson silk sheets were pulled from the bed and the many pillows were scattered around the room. They lay naked in the dark room, on the floor in front of the large fireplace. The only light was from the fire glowing in the grate and from the silver moon pouring in through the open window.

The flickering shadows cast by the flames danced patterns across Angel's naked back. Buffy watched them and traced them with her hands, caressing every inch of her lover's body as she did so. She pressed her head against Angel's bare chest and felt a rumbling vibration echoing from his lungs. She heard the rolling rumbling noise and wondered what it was for a minute before she realised.

Angel was purring.

Buffy fought hard not to laugh. It was just so unusual. She had heard Angel growl many times, especially when someone tried to attack her, but him purring, it was just so outrageous. But the rumbling purr made her insides tighten again and she rubbed her head against his chest, licking her tongue out to slash across his hard muscles.

She yelped slightly as Angel's hard arms wrapped around her waist and his cool lips settled in her hair. Then she shivered as he began to work his way down her face, pressing feather-light kisses on her ultra-sensitised skin. He continued his trail of kisses down her neck, leaving a moist path behind him as he moved down her body, his strong hands pulling her closer to him.

Angel paused at the base of her throat, then flicked his tongue out to lick at the raised mark on her neck. It had been so perfectly natural for her to invite him to feed from her. Buffy shivered, half with the memory of that intoxicating kiss and half because of Angel's wondering hands coming to rest on the inside of her fangs.

Angel kissed the scar softly and lovingly. Buffy knew that she would bear that scar for the rest of her life, slayer-healing factor be damned. The scar from when the Master had drained her had healed within the week, but instinctively she knew this was different. This hadn't been about killing or feeding; this had been about claiming her. She knew she could never leave Angel now, that a part of her would always belong entirely to him. Although her mind rebelled against that control, her soul longed for it, in the same way that her body arched into his touch; she longed for him to posses her entirely.

Then Angel's mouth moved lower as his hands moved up and Buffy couldn't have cared if every vampire in the world was in the castle, as long as Angel never stopped touching her.

Later the two of them lay curled up in front of the fire, boneless and content. Buffy's hair was wet from the shower she and Angel had taken together, but the fire warmer her and she felt utterly safe in Angel's arms, safer than anywhere else did in the world.

She suspected there was some irony in a slayer feeling safest in the arms of a vampire, but she didn't particularly care. She rolled over in her lover's arms and said,

"Angel?"

The vampire opened his left eye a crack and gazed down at her,

"Yes, beloved."

Buffy felt a shiver of happiness rush through her as he called her this and reached up and kissed him. It was not a particularly ardent kiss, no more then a gentle brush of their lips together, but it was full of their love for each other, open and obvious. It was full of all the feelings they had that they had been desperately trying to ignore since his return in late August. It was open and honest and full of their love.

Buffy sighed and pulled herself reluctantly from Angel's loose embrace. Angel growled slightly at the denied contact, but Buffy rose to her feet lethargically and walked to Angel's wardrobe. She pulled the doors open and then turned back to her lover,

"Angel, can I borrow some clothes to wear for a while as my clothes from earlier are… unusable."

Buffy blushed slightly as she stared down at the torn remnants of their clothing scattered on the floor. She did not precisely recall how their clothes ended up like that but she could make a very good guess.

She discovered her bra and g-string under a black satin pillow on the floor and was glad to see they were still in one piece. She pulled them on, wincing slightly. At first, their lovemaking had been anything but gentle and she ached slightly. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and surveyed the contents of the wardrobe.

She pulled on a black silk shirt, delighting in the feel of the material against her skin. Then she searched through the wardrobe and found a pair of leather pants in her size and some stiletto healed boots she had left in the room earlier.

Angel couldn't help but growl softly as she turned back to him, dressed in his clothes. She was swamped in his shirt, even though she had rolled the sleeves up several times. A primal part of him rejoiced in seeing her in his clothes, though that part was more interested in ripping them off her and taking her up against the wall.

A more rational part of him argued that it was probably more important that they go see Dumbledore and that they would never get round to doing that. He marvelled in how quiet it was now. Angelus was muted. It was an amazing feeling, knowing that he was gone forever, knowing that what he felt for Buffy was no longer dangerous.

He reluctantly rose from where he lay in front of the fire and walked over to join Buffy in front of his wardrobe. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin in her soft honey-golden hair. He had managed to purchase a few pairs of non-leather pants while he had been shopping with Buffy. He slipped on a pair of black silk boxers and then pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black cashmere crewneck. He then slipped on a pair of black silk socks and slipped his feet into a pair of black leather boots.

It was indulgent, he supposed, but he loved the feeling of these materials against his skin and wore little else when he could. Most older vampires did, as coarse fabric soon becomes intolerable after a while. It was expensive, but Angel hadn't had problems with money since he was eleven. Technically he hadn't had problems with money for his entire life, but before he was eleven he hadn't known that he hadn't had problems with money.

In any case, wearing these expensive materials was one of the few indulgences he allowed himself. He loved the feeling of silk and leather against his skin and he also enjoyed finding them. Okay, so he enjoyed shopping, it's not like that's a sin or something, even if he was a guy.

He wrapped his arms around Buffy again. She leant back into his embrace and he rested his chin in her hair. They stayed like that for a long time, and then Buffy sighed and pulled herself out of Angel's embrace. She then turned back to him and said,

"We really have to go and face the music now Angel. I mean, who knows what the students are going to think."

Draco Malfoy sat in a window seat in the Gryffindor common room.

He had never imagined that he would be here. It was Malfoy tradition to be sorted into Slytherin. The only other acceptable house was Ravenclaw. For a Malfoy to even want to be in Gryffindor was unthinkable. Slytherin was his curse as a Malfoy.

He looked around the common room. It was cosy and far more welcoming that the black leather and stone of the Slytherin Common room. The fire crackling in the grate cast attractive shadows over the room.

However, at that particular moment, the atmosphere in the common room was anything but congenial. If the terrified guesses were anything to go by, the 'oh so brave' Gryffindors were not always as brave as they were supposed to be. He listened to the ideas with some amusement,

"…eat us all when we sleep."

"…turn us all into vampires."

"…betray us all to you-know-who."

Draco snorted at this last one. The other ideas had been born from paranoia, but this was ridiculous. Even many of the Gryffindors had refused to admit that Voldemort was back, and now they immediately thought the worst. But the idea that Angel would betray them to the monster who had killed his parents was so ridiculous that he had to deny it,

"How stupid are you people. Angel would never betray us to the Dark Tosser. For Merlin's sake, the bastard killed his parents."

The Gryffindors turned to glare at him. Weasley spoke to him, his voice a snarl that would have impressed most Slytherins,

"What are you doing here Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged as if it should be obvious, which it should be, but one could never tell with Gryffindors. He spoke condescendingly, as if speaking to a very young child, instead of someone of his own age.

"Well, here's the thing. I was supposed to spy on Angel and Buffy for the Dark Tosser. But there was this thing with me not wanting to work for a murderous bastard who's not even really human. So, I told my father where to shove his dark lord. Therefore I was summarily disowned and it was considered too dangerous for me to associate with any of my father's friends and their children. Therefore, I moved in with Buffy and Angel and people. And I'm not exactly keen on playing fly on the wall in there at the moment."

Ron looked confused while Hermione blushed crimson. In complete confusion, Ron asked,

"Why wouldn't you want to be there, Malfoy?"

Hermione blushed even more brightly as Draco answered,

"I would have thought that was obvious Weasley. With all the tension between those two recently I doubt they'll be out of there for hours."

Ron finally worked out what Draco was talking about and flushed the same colour as his hair. Then someone else, Draco thought it was Finnigan, said,

"How do you know Angelus won't hurt us, everyone knows what kind of vampire he was before?"

Draco shrugged,

"Weren't you listening to Buffy at all? Vampires are only so bad because they have no souls. Angel has a soul, from when he was cursed with it. He's in love with Buffy and fights for the white hats. He'd never hurt anyone who doesn't fight for Moldywarts. Of course, I can't say what he'll do to Death Eaters or to those idiots from the Ministry. I almost wish I was there to watch."

Hermione and the Weasleys nodded their agreement. From the time that they had spent with Angel since his return they knew that he wouldn't hurt anyone unless they deserved it. Of course, they knew that no power in the world could protect the idiots from the ministry from the vengeance of Buffy and Angel now. They also wished that they could see what happened. Professor Umbridge was a joke and they all wanted to see her go down. It wasn't malice, but just for once the Gryffindors were feeling something highly unchivalrous.

Buffy and Angel walked along the corridors towards Professor Dumbledore's office. They stopped in front of the Gargoyle that concealed the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Angel swore softly,

"I don't know the password, but it's normally some sort of sweet."

Buffy smiled and said,

"So, we just guess different sweets until we get the right one?"

Angel nodded,

"Something like that."

Buffy smirked and turned towards the Gargoyle,

"Hershey's Kisses."

Angel shook his head,

"Sherbet Lemons."

The Gargoyle creaked to one side, revealing the spiral staircase that led up to the headmaster's office. Buffy scowled at Angel and followed him up the stairs.

When they reached the top of the stairs, they heard voices coming from the inside,

"…make them clean out the entire castle using toothbrushes."

"No, no, they'll make them become Snyder's slaves for the rest of eternity."

This suggestion was greeted with groans from the others in the room. Then the two outside the door heard another voice. This voice made a low growl rumble from Angel's chest. Buffy scowled at the nasal voice of the Minister for magic,

"You can't do this to me Dumbledore. I'll have you out of here for this. I'm the minister for magic… you have no right to do this. Head's will roll for this, I promise you that."

Buffy pushed open the door and stepped inside the circular office of Professor Dumbledore.

"Heads will roll, Fudge, but I promise you. They will not be ours."

Buffy and Angel fully entered the office, pulling the door closed behind them. Minister Fudge shrieked when he saw Angel.

"How can you be alive? Nobody survives the Dementor's kiss."

Buffy scowled,

"You really are an idiot. Firstly, what were you thinking, giving a vampire the Dementor's kiss. Any normal vampire would be completely unaffected by this. Angel has a soul and a demon. Giving him the Dementor's kiss was more foolish than you can imagine. Fortunately, Willow knows a soul restoration spell and was able to perform it before Angel's demon caused any more damage."

Fudge scowled,

"Don't take that attitude with me, young woman. I'm the minister for magic."

Buffy smirked,

"And I'm the slayer. Deal with it. There's only one reason that I'm not killing you and that's because Slayers can't harm humans, no matter how much we may want to."

The minister flinched. The others from Sunnydale smirked at the man's discomfort. Buffy and Angel sat down with their friends. Buffy then turned to Dumbledore and said,

"I am not accustomed to the usual methods of discipline in your society. Perhaps it would be better if you directed the appropriate method of punishment."

Dumbledore nodded,

"Yes, that would be best. Minister Fudge will be removed from office immediately as will all his associates. New elections will be arranged immediately. Dolores Umbridge will be removed from Hogwarts immediately and a new Defence teacher will be appointed in her place. All those involved will have their assets seized immediately and these assets will be transferred to the funds of the Order. An announcement will be made immediately to inform the public of Voldemort's return. Proper precautions will be taken to prevent Voldemort from gaining more power and support than he already has."

Minister Fudge spluttered indignantly,

"You can't do this, Dumbledore. You don't have the right."

Buffy smirked,

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't have the authority, but I do. As the Slayer I have ultimate legal and political power over the entire wizarding world. These powers are mostly unused, but I have them nonetheless. Professor Dumbledore has advised me as to the appropriate method of punishment and I will now enact it. With one difference. You wand will be taken and your powers removed."

Minister Fudge groaned as his fate was ordered. The punishment that Buffy ordained was the harshest punishment short of Azkaban. Some argued that it was the worst imaginable punishment. To have one's magic removed. But Buffy had not finished with the arrogant politician yet,

"You will be exiled from the wizarding world under pain of death. Am I understood?"

Minister Fudge shivered at the harsh tone in Buffy's voice, then he whimpered as he realised what he was being punished with. Buffy smirked then turned back to her friends, lover, watcher and the headmaster.

"So, now that's over with, are we done now?"

Xander snorted at Buffy's attitude, it was more than obvious that she wanted nothing more than to be able to leave the office and go back with Angel to his bed. Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to find this half as amusing as those who really knew the two. He scowled at the slayer as he spoke,

"I need to discuss the events of this evening with you."

Buffy scowled,

"I would have thought that was quite simple. This idiot had some Dementors suck out Angel's soul. Angelus gained control again. Willow used the new curse to return Angel's soul."

Dumbledore scowled back at her,

"I understand that. But what happened before that?"

Buffy sighed,

"Oh, that was Spike. He's a pain in the neck, literally. His girlfriend's Drusilla… Angel, you can explain this better than I can."

Angel groaned and leant forward to explain to Dumbledore,

"Drusilla is a vampiress I turned. She turned Spike into a vampire over a hundred years ago. Spike and Drusilla have had a relationship for quite a time. Drusilla has visions and Angelus used this fact to drive her insane before he turned her. She is incapable of feeling pleasure without pain and is now incapable of differentiating between the two. She was always obsessed with Dark Wizards and talked incessantly of Voldemort while Angelus returned earlier this year. She returned to him as soon as he came back, as I supposed she would. Spike went with her."

Buffy shook her head,

"Except it's slightly more complicated than that. I made a deal with Spike in May of this year. If he helped with rescue Giles and never showed his face in Sunnydale again, I would let him and Drusilla leave alive. Apparently, Dru thought he was going soft. She's now with a chaos demon. Spike's with Voldemort with her to try and prove that he hadn't gone soft. Voldemort sent him here to kill Harry Potter, not knowing that he and Angel were one and the same."

Angel nodded and continued the story,

"Spike hates me, but he also fears me. I am over twice his age and that's not including the years I spent in Acathla's dimension. I also drank from the Master while Darla and I were in his court. This blood made me more powerful than even my years would grant me. If Spike had known he had been asked to kill me while Buffy was around, well, he wouldn't have come. He'll take Dru and leave Voldemort now, if it means not fighting me and Buffy at the same time, especially now he knows that I am back from hell and fighting for the good."

Buffy nodded and added her own thoughts,

"Yes, Spike knew that I was willing to send Angelus to hell to stop the portal from opening. He allowed me to do this and even assisted me in this. Angelus was his grande-sire and he betrayed every piece of vampire lore in letting me send him to hell. He knows that Angelus will want to kill him and Angel and I have very little qualms about turning him to dust, particularly after what he did to you that night."

Buffy scowled as she remembered what Spike and Drusilla had done to Angel. She knew that Angel felt he deserved what Spike and Dru had done to him, but Buffy had no such issues about the two vampires. She finished off her explanation,

"Yes, Spike will leave and he'll take Dru with him. Likelihood is that he will try to go back to Sunnydale, and then Faith will get him."

Dumbledore accepted this explanation and then asked,

"Now we have to consider the appointment of a new Defence teacher. Mr Giles, I don't suppose you would consider filling in the post?"

Giles shook his head,

"There would be no point. As a squib I would not be able to teach to practical magic that the students require."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Angel. He stared at them,

"What? You can't be thinking I'm suitable to teach? I'm a vampire. I have no place teaching children."

Buffy shook her head,

"Who better? It's not like you can pretend to be a student now. Anyway, you know more than anyone else I can think of and you have experience. In any case, we know that you're not going to be working for Voldemort or the ministry."

It looked as if Angel was going to complain, but Buffy fixed him with a stern glare and he subsided in defeat,

"Fine, I'll teach defence. I also think that we may need to consider changing the curriculum slightly now that it has been recognised that Voldemort has returned."

Dumbledore nodded,

"Yes, you're right. What suggestions can you make?"

Angel considered this for a moment before he answered,

"Well, this should probably be discussed at a full staff meeting."

Dumbledore nodded his agreement,

"I'll call one immediately. Mr Giles, I think your suggestions would be invaluable, so if you would join Angel and Miss Summers at the staff meeting, that would be highly beneficial. If you others could secure the minister and his associates down in the dungeons that would be excellent."

Willow nodded and accepted her task with glee. She gestured to Oz and Xander to help her carry the minister and his cronies down to the dungeons.

Every member of the Hogwarts faculty sat in the Common room, waiting for Professor Dumbledore's arrival. The door swung open and four figures stepped in. Professor Dumbledore sat in his customary seat at the head of the large table, but Buffy and Angel sat in the shadows of the large room.

Giles seated himself at one of the empty seats at the table and frowned at Buffy and Angel until they reluctantly joined the others at the table. Buffy and Angel sat as close to each other as possible. Professor Snape then asked the question that was on all the other's minds,

"What are Potter and Mr Giles doing here?"

Dumbledore smiled,

"Mr Potter has agreed to take Dolores Umbridge's place as teacher of Defence against the dark arts."

Snape scowled,

"You're having a vampire teach Defence against the dark arts?"

Buffy scowled at him,

"Nobody asked for your opinion, greaseball. Anyway, you look like a bat on steroids, so you can't talk."

Smoke poured out of Snape's ears, but Dumbledore held up his hand to stop the fight that was obviously coming.

"I asked Angel to teach, he was reluctant but agreed."

Angel interrupted him then,

"It would be better, I think, if we used the name I used in the past. It has fewer connections and would therefore be better for public use."

Dumbledore nodded,

"Yes, just, what was the name you used in the past?"

Angel smiled,

"I was Liam O'Connor. My father was the Duke of Galway. He adopted me when I arrived. The family had a history of great magical talent and therefore there were few questions when I appeared with knowledge of what was then highly experimental magical theory."

Dumbledore smiled, then Professor McGonagall asked,

"If you were adopted by the Duke of Galway, who I presume is no longer alive, would that not make you the current Duke of Galway?"

Angel winced,

"Yes, theoretically, I was my father's sole heir. Therefore, all property and titles were transferred to me upon his death. Until recently I have not touched any of that property."

Professor McGonagall nodded, accepting this answer as well as Angel's unwillingness to discuss the topic of his family in the past. Then Dumbledore continued to speak.

"Upon advisement, I have decided to alter the curriculum taught at Hogwarts. The ministry will be announcing the return of Voldemort within twenty-four hours."

The other teachers gasped as they realised that Voldemort's return would now be public knowledge. Angel then began to outline his plans,

"There needs to be more practical magic and less theory taught. We need to emphasise on fighting and duelling techniques, both magical and physical. There must also be lessons in tactics and battle simulations. Students need to be instructed about how to tackle anything that Voldemort might try and use against us. All students must be instructed in how to perform the Patronus charm. They need to learn how to utilise all the magic that they know for fighting. They must also learn the basic hexes used for duelling. All students must know how to fly a broom under battle conditions and be able to cast spells whilst flying. There must be a daily physical regimen for the students to complete and diet must be moderated. There must be constant and heavy patrols of the entire castle. All entries and exits to the grounds must be guarded at all times and I don't care if they're supposed to be blocked. All owl post must be scanned and censored for dangerous information. All parcels must also be scanned to make sure that nothing dangerous is hidden within them. The whereabouts of every single student must be known at all times. No student may leave the grounds unescorted and fire-calls must be watched as well. There must be random searches and checks to make sure that none of the students are smuggling dangerous objects or are actually under the disguise of Polyjuice Potion. Students must learn how to resist the Imperius curse. Passes for the Restricted section must only be given out with two or more teacher signatures. All visitors must have their visit approved and must then go straight to the great hall. All students must have the right to stun any suspicious looking strangers on sight. Punishments must be more severe and metered out with greater frequency. All dangerous and immature pranks must be stopped, and their perpetrators punished. Mr Filch, I trust you will be able to inform all the current pranksters of their predicament and give them a warning that the punishment will not only be form the crime itself but for the consequences of that crime. Madame Pomfrey, it would be beneficial if you could chose from the most competent of the students and give them training as medi-witches. It must be ascertained as to whether any of the students' familiars are unregistered Animagi. It must also be discovered whether any of the students are attempting to reach this state or already have."

When Angel was finished, the entire faculty was staring at him, except for Professor Dumbledore. Giles and Buffy weren't either, but he had discussed some of these ideas with them previously. Buffy had often made it clear how infuriated she was with the students' incompetence in fighting situations. Finally, Professor Sprout said,

"Mr O'Connor, you make it sound as if the students are going to be involved in the fighting."

Angel snorted,

"You think Voldemort cares how old someone is when he kills them? He will kill everyone who does not directly support him and will have no qualms about using children for his own gain."

Professor Sprout paled and subsided at this. Dumbledore nodded,

"Thank-you, Angel. Now, The Christmas holidays begin tomorrow and there are only a few over a dozen students remaining at the school over the break. I will impose these new restrictions immediately after the Spring term commences. Now, Miss Summers and I must escort the former minister and his cronies to the ministry and make the final arrangements for announcing Voldemort's return to the general public, as well as orchestrating the minister's punishment."

Buffy groaned and rose from her seat. She kissed Angel on the cheek and said,

"There's a pile of essays on my bed. They're all about comparing the advantages and disadvantages of modern weaponry over traditional weaponry when combating demons. If you marked them for me, I would be really, really happy."

Angel sighed in mock distress and nodded. Buffy smiled down at him and then swirled out of the room after Professor Dumbledore.

Tbc.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: IT'S ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. I GO BACK TO SCHOOL TOMORROW AND I CAN'T SLEEP. I DON'T WANT TO GO, THIS VACATION, THINGS HAVE BEEN STARTING TO MAKE SENSE IN MY LIFE AND I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THAT. I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M WRITING THIS HERE, BUT I GUESS IT MAKES IT EASIER. ANYWAY, LACK OF SLEEPS MEANS I NEED TO WRITE, SO HERE I AM. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN READY AND ACCOUNTED FOR.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT AND I NEVER WILL.

RATING: PG-13, NOT GOING TO BE R UNLESS I GET SOME REQUESTS FOR THAT STYLE OF CONTENT.

Chapter Eighteen

Joyce Summers woke early that morning. This was unusual for her under any circumstances, but she didn't have to go to the gallery that morning, making it a perfect opportunity for a lie-in. Unable to go back to sleep, she washed and dressed silently in the pre-dawn quiet.

As she passed the guestroom, the partially opened door revealed that Faith was still asleep. Joyce smiled as she watched the girl, she had been uneasy about inviting Faith into her home at first, but the girl was really very nice under her acerbic façade.

She went down the stairs softly, so as not to wake Faith. She knew from experience that Slayers had sharp hearing and she did not wish to disrupt her from her rest. She would wager that the girl had not been asleep more than two hours.

She puttered around for a while, dusting and straightening photo frames. Then she seated herself in the kitchen as she poured a cup of black coffee. When she had made the coffee, she picked up the book she was reading; 'The life and work of Salvador Dali', and nibbled gently at a blueberry muffin she had found in the fridge.

She had opened the blinds when she had entered the kitchen and now had the satisfaction of watching the sun perform its usual antics as it rose elegantly into the rosy dawn sky. As a non-morning person, she was not accustomed to watching the sun's rising, so she enjoyed it maybe more than it deserved.

The sunrise had reminded her of one thing however. Buffy had been gone for a long time and Joyce was worried about her daughter. Buffy had made certain to send regular letters, to both her and Faith, but Joyce still worried that something had happened to her daughter.

She worried about Buffy constantly now. If only Buffy didn't persist in keeping up that wretched slaying business. It had dragged her all the way to England, when she should be at home, trying to find a nice, normal young-man to settle down with. It was all the fault of that Mr Giles and that vampire. What kind of name was Angel, anyway?

Buffy would see sense when she returned that Christmas, she would have to. Joyce had briefly entertained the idea that Buffy would find a nice young-man at the school she had gone to, then she had remembered Buffy saying something about the school being for witches and wizards. Joyce wouldn't have her only daughter consorting with those freaks.

It had occurred to Joyce that the reason why Buffy persisted with her slaying was because of her exposure to those freakish people she hung around with. That would have to stop. She would make sure that Buffy never saw Mr Giles or that Angel fellow again. And the others, Buffy had mentioned Oz being a werewolf, of all things, as well as a musician in a rock band. Willow was a witch, Buffy had said, who apparently practised two different kinds of magic at the same time. Joyce hadn't even known that there was more than one kind, nor did she particularly care to find out the difference. The Harris boy could supposedly tell whether or not someone was lying, and that was too freakish for Joyce's tastes.

She suspected that there was something unnatural about the Chase girl as well, but Buffy had never mentioned any specifics, except that she was good at a subject that Buffy described as to be like Chemistry. Joyce supposed that Cordelia could be all right, she reminded her of the friends Buffy had had before they had moved to this awful town.

As she contemplated this, she did not hear the sounds that signalled that Faith was up and moving around. Therefore she jumped slightly with shock as the dark-haired girl entered the kitchen. However, she managed to conquer her surprise quickly and smiled at Faith. Faith smiled back, digging through the refrigerator for the last chocolate muffin.

Joyce had been surprised to discover that Faith held a passion for food, particularly sweets and chocolate. Buffy had always eaten very little at all and had always appeared to be something of a waif. Faith had a decent appetite and was therefore better built than the other girl. She could only hope that Buffy would follow Faith's lead and stop acting like such a Prima Donna all the time.

Faith flopped down into the seat opposite her and poured herself a glass of milk. She quickly consumed her muffin and washed it down with two glasses of whole-fat milk. She then went over to the side and opened the cookie jar. Picking out two double-stuffed Oreo cookies she sat back down and proceeded to eat the cookies with the same determination as she had consumed the muffin only minutes earlier.

Joyce heard a tapping at the window and watched as Faith swung smoothly from the bed to the window. She watched as the brunette looked out of the window and then slid the glass up. A snowy white owl flew in, an envelope clasped in its beak. Faith gently stroked the owl as she opened the letter and read through it quickly. The slayer pulled open a drawer and grabbed a bag containing some strange pellets. Faith pulled out a handful and proffered them to the owl, which peered at her for a moment before selecting a few of the largest pellets.

Faith turned back to Joyce. She smiled slightly and said,

"Sorry, Mrs S. That's Angel's owl, she's called Hedwig. B just wrote saying that they'd all just apparated, that's some magic thing, to the mansion and are coming to see you as soon as it's dark."

Joyce made a non-committal sound in the back of her throat. What kind of freaks used owls to send letters? And Angel was taking Buffy more and more away from her, pulling her into his twisted world. The owl, Hedwig, took a few more pellets from Faith's open hand and stared expectantly at the slayer. She frowned and smacked her palm against her forehead in exasperation. She rummaged around on her desk and turned the parchment, parchment? over. She scribbled a reply on the back and handed it to the owl.

The snowy owl flicked her wings elegantly and turned a baleful eye on Joyce. She frowned and hooted in dismissal, spreading her wings and soaring gracefully out of the open window. Not only were these people abnormal, Joyce thought, but they were stupid. An owl flying in broad daylight, holding a letter. Anyone would notice that, she thought, conveniently ignoring the fact that it had taken her almost three years to discover that her daughter slayer vampires on a nightly basis. And she had only found that out because Buffy had told her.

Faith watched as the owl winged away, then she flopped back down into her chair, reading a magazine. Joyce watched her for a moment, and then stood up. It was time to go to the gallery. There, she could think of a plan. She would find a way to get her daughter away from those freaks. Buffy would have to understand that it was for her own good.

And Angel. If Joyce had her say in it, Angel would be dust. Once that vampire was dead, everything would be alright. Yes, the first thing she would do would be to get rid of the vampire.

As soon as Faith heard Buffy's mom's footsteps leave the house, she dropped her magazine and ran upstairs. It was too risky to go outside by the main door, so she would have to take the alternative route out of the house. She ran into her room and walked over the window and pushed it open. Judging the length of the drop, she jumped from the window, bending her knees to brace against the impact.

Then she began to run. She didn't run so fast as to attract attention, but fast enough to reach the mansion quickly. She had to speak to the others before Joyce did.

Faith knew the way to the mansion easily, so she didn't really watch as she ran. It was too sunny for vampires to be out, and other demons preferred the night, even if they weren't confined to it as vamps were. When she came to Crawford Street, she was somewhat surprised to see that the lights were on.

She didn't know why she was surprised, she had known that Buffy and Angel were living at the mansion, so the lights would have to be on, given that Angel didn't have a great fondness for natural light. She came to a halt just outside the front door, pleased to be able to control her speed. When she had first been called, Faith had had a series of unfortunate accidents with property. The advanced strength, speed and reflexes that being the slayer gave her were useful in fighting vamps, not so useful when trying to open a door.

Faith had lost count of the number of things she had broken during the beginning of her calling. At first, she had not really understood the extent of the power that she possessed as the slayer. She had learnt this the hard way. For the first time in Faith's boringly unremarkable life, she was something special, something unique.

Then she had found out that she was not as unique as she thought. There was another Slayer. A slayer who had died and come back. A slayer who had fought one of the most feared vampires in history and lived. A slayer who operated on the very Mouth of Hell itself. A slayer that many vampires and demons saw her as a legend to be feared and respected. There had even been rumours of this Slayer having converted Angelus, the scourge of Europe, to the side of good.

Faith had hated the other slayer at first, had hated her for taking away the one thing in the entire world that made her something different, something special. But, when she heard of the other slayer's exploits, she found it difficult to hate her. The elder slayer seemed less like an actual person and more like a god. She had created an ideal warrior in her head, and made her into the elder slayer. She had modelled herself on the tales she heard of the other slayer, many of which seemed so ridiculous now.

Then her watcher had died. She had known that Kakistos would come after her next, so she had run. She had hated herself for it; she had told herself that the other slayer would never run, would never abandon her duty because she was scared for her own life. A woman who had given her own life would have no fear of dying to do what was right. Faith was a coward.

She had tried to do better. She had run to the Hellmouth, of all the places she could have run to, she ran to the centre of mystical energies. She realised that she had not just wanted to run from Kakistos, she wanted to meet the legendary slayer who had died. And she had. The other slayer had arrived back in Sunnydale.

When Faith had heard the local harmless demons talk about how The Slayer had returned, they always called her The Slayer, and she had wanted to know where she had gone. Her mind had been full of grand ideas, of quests to find mystical artefacts, or hide dangerous ones from evil demons. Then she had found out that the other slayer had run away from home and had been wanted for questioning over a murder. She had discovered that the slayer was in fact called Buffy, what kind of name was Buffy?

But she was still intrigued by the other girl, wanting to know what it was that made her so special. Wanting to know more about her than just terrified whispers in smoky bars. So Faith had investigated. She had found out where the Slayer hung out. She had discovered the identity of the other girl's friends. She had found out that the slayer lived with her mother.

So Faith had hung out in the places she had heard the other slayer frequented, and she waited. It was three nights before she met the other girl. She had gone to the club, the Bronze. She had started to give up hope of ever meeting her idol. The moment she entered the Bronze, she felt it. She had thought at first that it was just the feeling she got when she was around a vamp, for there were enough people in the club for one of them to be a vamp.

Faith had surveyed the club, trying to locate her mystery vamp. She had barely taken notice of the two couples sitting on a sofa in one corner with a petite blonde. She had spotted the vamp and gone outside to stake him. She had been fighting him when the group from the corner had arrived. She had staked the vamps quickly, barely hearing the red-haired guy make a comment about there being a new slayer in town. She had introduced herself, if saying your name counted as an introduction.

Then she had turned to face the group. She knew instinctively which one was the other slayer. It was the petite blond girl who looked so pale and thin that she might snap if you hit her too hard. But Faith recognised that this was the girl she had come to meet. Recognised it in the confidant grip the other girl had on the stake she held. Recognised it in the determination in the other girl's stance. Recognised it in the way the other girl longed for the fight she was in. And recognised it most of all in the haunted shadows in the other girl's eyes.

Faith had wondered if that was what her eyes would look like when she had fought for as long as Buffy had, whether her eyes looked like that even now. But she doubted it. Faith had become disenchanted with men very quickly and knew herself to be very cynical where they were concerned. But her cynicism came with experience of the shallowness of man's character, of their desires. Faith's experiences fighting with demons had also disenchanted her to most of life, she knew about a darkness most other people could not even begin to imagine.

But Buffy was different. Buffy's eyes showed the shadows of remembered evils Faith could not begin to understand. Buffy's eyes had only been half-alive, as if half of her soul was missing. Faith now knew that it was Angel that had been missing. She had asked about him as soon as she could and had soon learnt that he was not a subject to be broached lightly

Faith was dragged from her reflections as the door swung open. She felt all the air being knocked out of her as Buffy drew her into an enormous hug. She choked slightly as the elder slayer forgot to control her strength as she squeezed the younger girl tightly. She knocked her fist on the other girl's back, not lightly, knowing that she didn't have to control her strength around this one person.

Faith felt comfortable with her strength around Buffy. She knew that the other girl's fighting abilities were the same as or greater than her own. For the first time in ages, Faith didn't have to worry about hurting people when she hugged them. Not that Faith hugged many people anyway. It was just that, she felt a kinship with Buffy. Faith did not know how the other slayers had managed, to know that they would never be able to find anyone who could come close to understanding them.

The speech that had decided the fates of so many came to Faith's mind then,

"In every generation, there is a chosen one. She alone will has the power and skill to fight the vampires, demons and forces of evil…"

Faith could not remember it exactly, only one word really mattered in it, 'alone'. But she was not alone any more, neither of them were. There was not merely one chosen one any more; there were two. And Faith knew that there would always be someone who understood what she felt, because Buffy was the only person in the world who could understand her.

Faith managed to escape Buffy's exuberant hug then and the two slayers entered the mansion. Faith noticed that, although Buffy appeared to have changed very little in appearance, there was something very different about her. Perhaps it was in the way the other slayer carried herself, the way her eyes seemed to sparkle and her lips seemed always to be fighting not to smile even more widely than they already were.

Faith followed Buffy into the room where they had all sat in the summer that seemed so long ago now. Everyone was gathered there again. It struck Faith just how different they all seemed. As with Buffy, they had not changed much in their appearance, but the way they carried themselves, the expressions on their faces spoke of a change that Faith could not begin to understand. Even though Buffy and the others had written to her faithfully all throughout the last few months, Faith still felt as if there was something that she had missed by not being there.

Faith watched in amazement as she saw Angel sitting in one corner of the room, talking quietly with Giles. She could not claim to have known any of them very well before the older slayer and her friends had left, but she had thought that Giles had hated Angel for what Angelus had done to the watcher and Jenny.

When Buffy and Faith entered the room, Angel looked up immediately from his conversation with the watcher and smiled. Faith almost gasped, the vampire was gorgeous. She had not noticed before, as she had been busier worrying about whether he was going to try and kill them all. Then Buffy ran across the room and kissed Angel, who swung her around slightly as he embraced her close to him. Faith knew that there was no chance that she would ever stand any chance with Angel. She also wondered what had happened to make Buffy and Angel so openly affectionate with each other, as the last few letters she had received had told Faith that Buffy and Angel were fighting a lot because of all the tension of being so close to each other.

As Faith looked at the couples sitting or embracing in the room, she felt like an outsider then all the others saw her and they all smiled at her. Faith smiled tentatively back at them, feeling for the first time in longer than she could remember that people were truly glad to see her. Faith, as the slayer, was used to people moving fast, but she still wasn't quite sure to be able to describe how all the others, even the normally aloof Cordelia, came so quickly to surround and hug her. Obviously, everyone was much closer now than she thought.

Looking at Xander and Cordelia, Faith realised that the relationship she had thought to be all about hormones was obviously something more. Cordelia had obviously mellowed in Xander's company and Xander looked truly happy with her. A glance at Willow and Oz proved that the witch and the werewolf were just as close as they had ever been, if not more so.

But it was Buffy and Angel who really looked the closest, the two of them were so obviously in love and silly with it that their love was practically tangible. Even now that the vampire and vampire slayer were not embracing, they stood close enough to be touching at all times. Looking at the two, Faith suddenly remembered that she had to tell Buffy about her mother. Brushing off all of the inquisitive though friendly questions, she sat down and turned her gaze onto her sister slayer.

"B, there's something wrong with your mom."

Buffy paled slightly and then asked,

"What's the what?"

Faith frowned slightly, not sure how to explain what had happened with Mrs Summers. She finally decided on what would be the best way to explain the problem and spoke seriously,

"It's kinda hard to explain, B. There was this demon a few weeks back that made everyone hate everything that was supernatural and your mum was the head of the movement against the supernatural. But that cleared up and things seemed to be mostly okay until a coupla days back."

Faith paused, unsure as to how to continue, Buffy prompted her,

"What happened next?"

Faith frowned again as she tried to explain something that she did not totally understand herself.

"Well, we went to buy Christmas trees so that we could decorate the house before you all got back, but your mom went over to this part of the place where all the trees had just died for no reason whatsoever, and she's been all wacky since then."

Buffy looked concerned,

"Wacky how?"

Faith sighed and tried to explain,

"Well, she's been really anti everything unusual, and given that we live on the Hellmouth there's a lot of that. And sometimes I catch her and she looks like she's talking to herself. It's really weird, even for the Hellmouth. I think she's been possessed or controlled by something. And recently I've heard her talking about killing Angel."

Buffy paled so much as to be even paler than her undead lover. Xander snorted,

"So, Mrs S wants to kill dead-boy here? And you think she's been possessed? I can go with the possession, seeing as this is the capital of weird around here, but I don't see that possession is the only reason why she's all anti-dead-boy. I mean I wouldn't be too keen on any, purely hypothetical, children of mine being in love with a vampire. And she has only really met Angel's not so pleasant version. I mean, I think that I agree with you over the possession or it being some kind of evil spirit, but I don't think that's the only problem we have here."

Buffy frowned, thinking this over,

"I guess you're probably right, Xander. My mom's never been exactly comfortable with any part of the whole slayer thing and whatever this evil is that's around, it's probably multiplying that. We'll slay the evil, whatever it is, and then my mom and I will have a nice long chat. So, Faith, what's the new watcher like?"

Before Faith could start telling the others about Wesley, Giles looked up from a book that he had opened as soon as Faith had finished her description. Faith could not remember seeing him looking so scared. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with fear,

"Buffy, this thing that's effecting your mother, it's the First Evil."

TBC

CLIFFHANGER, MUAHAHAHAHA, AREN'T I EVIL? WILL TRY TO UPDATE SOON. PLEASE VOTE FOR FURTHER PAIRINGS:

FAITH/DRACO

FAITH/SPIKE

DRACO/Ginny

Ginny/FAITH


	19. Chapter 19

****

AN: CHAPTER NINETEEN UP NOW, SORRY FOR THE DELAY, BUT I'VE HAD LOADS AND LOADS OF WORK RECENTLY. CHAPTER NINETEEN IS GOING TO BE AN EXTRA LONG ONE BECAUSE I'M GOING ON HOLIDAY AND WON'T BE ABLE TO UPLOAD ANYTHING FOR A BIT. THIS IS THE CHRISTMAS CHAPTER HERE.

Chapter Nineteen

Buffy chuckled slightly and turned to Giles.

"So, First Evil, I'm guessing that it's evil."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow and Xander snorted loudly. Giles looked seriously unimpressed.

"This is no time for jokes Buffy."

Buffy scowled,

"I'm not joking Giles. So it's evil, so what? I've fought evil before and I've won. How is this any different?"

Giles sighed,

"Buffy, I can't emphasise how much danger we are all in right now, especially you and Faith, if the First Evil has really come to Sunnydale."

Buffy frowned,

"You've said that before Giles and we've dealt. What's so different with this first evil person?"

Giles shook his head and turned to Angel for support. Angel sighed and turned to Buffy.

"You have to understand Buffy. This is nothing like anything we've ever faced before. The First makes the Judge look like nothing."

Buffy frowned,

"You think I can't handle it?"

Angel shook his head,

"It's not that. Even vampires are afraid of the First. The master himself feared it. I'm not doubting your abilities, or Faith's, I just want you to be careful."

Buffy scowled,

"Okay, it's evil. So why's it after my mother?"

Angel frowned,

"I'm not sure about that."

Buffy turned to her watcher,

"Giles, any clues?"

Giles shook his head,

"Other than to get at you, Buffy, I can't really think of any reason why the First would target your mother."

Buffy turned to Faith,

"Faith, can you think of any reason why this First Evil would target my mother?"

The dark-haired slayer looked slightly uncomfortable as she looked anywhere but at the older slayer. Eventually she turned back to her sister slayer.

"B, I don't think that this First Evil dude is just after you. I think it's got a thing after Angel as well as you."

Buffy stared,

"I still don't get what this has to do with my mom."

Faith scowled,

"See, B, I think that the First went after your mom because it only had to work on feelings that were already there."

Buffy frowned,

"What do you mean, F?"

Faith shifted uncomfortably,

"Well, B, I think that the first went after your mom because there was the most anger there to begin with."

Buffy frowned,

"What does that mean, F?"

Faith shifted again,

"Well, B, your mother's never been exactly too fond of Angel and she's on this kick where she wants you to have a normal life or some shit. She's not exactly too keen on you being with Angel and the First just hit on that."

Buffy frowned,

"Well, I can still kill it, then I can deal with my mom. Giles, how do I kill this First Evil?"

Giles sighed,

"It isn't in any of the books that I have…"

Buffy scowled and turned back to Faith,

"F, your watcher's here, isn't he?"

Faith nodded,

"Wes, yeah. Why?"

Buffy scowled,

"Get him to come here. He might be able to help. I want this First Evil gone."

Faith quickly left the room and the mansion to go and find her watcher. Buffy turned to her lover.

"Angel, would any of the books from the vault have any information we could use?"

Angel thought about this for a minute,

"I'm not sure, love, I'll go and see if there's anything we could use.

Buffy smiled slightly as her lover left the room. Even though Angel had been back for over three months now, she was still amazed at having him back again. Aside from the matter of Voldemort, Spike, Drusilla, The ministry of magic and the ultimate evil that was targeting Buffy's mother, it seemed that things were starting to work out for the two of them.

Buffy reviewed the previous thought in her head and decided that she had been living on the Hellmouth for far too long. Shame about that sacred duty and destiny stuff, but if it weren't for that Buffy decided that she would probably be better off moving from good old Sunnyhell. Maybe she and Faith could work something out.

Buffy wondered what kind of person she would be if she had never come to Sunnydale, if she and her mother had found a school that would take her that wasn't on the mouth of hell. In some ways Buffy was glad that she had been chosen as the slayer, as the person she had been before had been so completely shallow. Maybe if she had been able to have some kind of reality check without the low life-expectancy, less than minimal wage and of course the fact that she couldn't tell anyone about it without being shipped off to the nearest mental institution.

Buffy shivered as she remembered the time she spent in an institution when she had first been called as the slayer. Maybe it would have been better if she had never been called as the slayer, if she had stayed the same. Sometimes the truth was worse than the lies that she told herself when she was that other Buffy.

But if she hadn't been the slayer, then she would have never met Angel. She would have never been friends with Xander, Willow and Oz and she would have never met Giles, the man she loved as the closest thing she had to a real father. It was pointless to think about things that could have been, anyway.

"…Buffy. Earth calling planet Buffster."

Xander's voice drew Buffy from her thoughts. She turned to her Xander-shaped friend and smiled,

"Xander, I don't know what I find more disturbing, you referring to me as a planet or you referring to yourself as a representative of planet earth."

Xander pouted in a mock hurt manner and turned to his girlfriend,

"Cordy, the big, bad Slayer's picking on me."

Cordelia smirked and winked at Buffy before she lectured in a mock paternal tone.

"Buffy, you know it's not fair to prey on the weak."

Willow smiled at the exchange and turned to her best-friend since kindergarten,

"Hiding behind Cordy's skirts, Xander?"

Xander smirked,

"Yeah, well, I get a great view of her arse from there."

Willow blushed as red as her hair and made an excellent impression of a duck trying to swallow her tongue. Cordy remained calm and just whacked her boyfriend around the head. Xander raised his arms over his head in a show of protecting himself,

"Hey, watch it with the Xander abuse."

It was at this exact moment that Faith decided to enter the room, her new watcher panting behind her, trying to catch his breath as he ran.

Wesley Windham-Price ran into the living room of the Crawford Street mansion after his slayer, greatly out of breath and doing a remarkable impression of an asthmatic goldfish with heavy shopping, though the dignified gentleman would never admit it. His slayer had turned up at the High School library, the guardianship of which Wesley had taken over after his compatriot Rupert Giles had returned to England with his Slayer.

Faith, in her typically irrational manner, had not told him where she was going, she had just turned up and told him to follow her. He had thought it had been about some vampire nest and had been just preparing to tell her that it was the duty of the slayer to take care of such places, not the responsibility of her watcher. Faith had never understood what it meant to be the slayer, she had no comprehension of her responsibilities.

Wesley had been surprised when the infuriating girl had brought him to the Crawford Street mansion. He was also annoyed with the fact that the Watcher of the other slayer, two slayers, how ridiculous, had taken his diaries with him when he and his slayer had left the hellmouth for an unknown destination. But, despite Miss Summers's somewhat anomalous behaviour and her reputation as something of a wild card, he had the greatest confidence that the senior slayer would be far more respectful of the council and her duty than Faith was.

When the irreverent slayer had arrived in the library at a run that evening, she had basically ordered him to come with her as they had a problem and requested that he provide what assistance he could. Wesley had been quietly furious, but as Faith had offered no further explanation, he had followed her as she run out of the library.

He had attempted to make Faith slow down, but the infuriating girl had either not heard him or ignored his orders. Thus he had had to run full pelt towards a mansion on Crawford Street. He had once again inquired what they were doing at the mansion, but Faith had once again ignored him. She had merely run up the steps and pulled open the unlocked doors. Wesley had followed her inside, trying not to stare around at the grand entrance hall, with its huge fireplace and the incongruous note of a pair of chains hanging from one wall.

Faith had pulled open another set of doors, these ones leading into what appeared to be a smaller sitting room, the Slayer had entered this room and Wesley had followed his charge into the room.

The Watcher had been right in his assumption that the other room was a small sitting room, and Wesley mentally congratulated himself on this fact. However, as he looked around the room, his sense of self-accomplishment dimmed.

There was a fairly large group of people in the room, which in itself was odd, as Wesley had been indoctrinated with the belief that Slayers worked alone. He had of course heard the rumour that the Older Slayer worked with civilians, but he had had no idea that their presence was on such a large scale.

Wesley looked at each of the people in turn. The first one he saw was a distinguished looking older gentleman with silvery hair, dressed in tweed and looking over the group with a rather parental expression, this one Wesley could only assume to be the Slayer's watcher, Mr Giles.

The next person the Wesley saw was a slender laconic looking boy with red died hair and piercing eyes that made Wesley think he was thinking about something terribly important, but terribly distant.

Standing close to the boy was a red-haired girl with smiling eyes. There was an aura of innocence around the girl, but also a great sense of power, that even somebody as inherently insensitive as Wesley could sense.

Close by, another dark-haired couple stood, apparently in the middle of a friendly spat. The woman was very attractive and dressed in what Wesley presumed to be the latest fashions, whilst the boy was at best endearing in his goofiness.

The last person in the room had to be the slayer. The petite slender blonde was not the person whom Wesley expected to see. In his subconscious, he had expected the Slayer to at least be taller. But, her diminutive appearance aside, the Slayer seemed to be everything that he had been told. With pale blonde hair and a slender figure, Wesley assumed that the slayer might appear not in the least bit threatening to someone who didn't know what she was.

But at second glance, it was obvious just how much this waif-like girl had earned her title as Slayer. The girl was dressed for fighting in black leather pants and a black corset-top. Black boots and a long black trench completed the outfit, making a deadly impression that was only strengthened by the various weaponry strapped to her body, including a long sword strapped to her back. A look in her eyes showed the shadowed age of an early wisdom that came from being the Slayer.

But, even as he recognised the deadly steel edge that the Slayer possessed, he also recognised the validity of the arguments of certain factions within the council. Though, undoubtedly a force to be feared by the demonic world, this Slayer was wild and unpredictable, her better judgement skewed by unnecessary contact with the outside world. The Slayer would probably just as easily turn against the council as attack demons. But, most worryingly, was the complete lack of understanding for the serious nature of the fight that she undertook.

By allowing civilians to assist her in her fight, which should be her fight and hers alone, the reckless child showed not only disrespect for the traditions of the council, but also a complete disregard for the human lives she was risking. The ratification of these rumours disturbed Wesley, as it meant not only the consequences of these choices, but gave extra credence to the disturbing rumours about the Slayer's other misdemeanours, such as her dalliance with the vampire Angelus.

Before Wesley could ruminate further on these disturbing thoughts, the occupants of the room, including the slayer, noticed his presence. The Slayer turned from a laughing conversation with the human boy and whirled around to fix a glare on him. When she spoke, the Slayer's voice was icy,

"You're Faith's new Watcher?"

There was a shocking lack of respect in the Slayer's voice, something else that Wesley had heard about the elder Slayer. But Wesley endeavoured not to get off on a bad start with the infamous Miss Summers, so he answered politely,

"Yes, Wesley Windham-Price, at your service."

The impudent Slayer seemed to find this polite comment humorous, and, instead of satisfying basic courtesy by providing a similar introduction, snorted indelicately. Her snort was echoed by the others in the room, even Mr Giles. The Slayer spoke then, her voice condescending,

"And what service can you possibly provide me, apart from the skill of screaming like a girl and running away?"

Everyone snorted at this, even Mr Giles once again echoing the immaturity of his charge and her peers. Wesley felt a headache coming on, somehow, he knew this group was going to be even worse than Faith.

TBC.

Sorry it's been so long and it's so short, but there are serious time issues at the moment.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: ANOTHER CHAPTER HERE. SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY**

**DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN 'EM, NEVER WILL**

Chapter 20

Christmas morning, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, was not an entirely cheery affair. In fact, by some standards, the whole meal was looking to be positively gloomy. By all rights, the size of the gathering and their close friendships should have guaranteed some degree of camaraderie, but the hours that passed of that morning were long and silent.

The entire Weasley family, minus Percy, was gathered at Grimmauld Place, as were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, both of whom seemed very uncomfortable. After some argument, Hermione's parents had agreed that the safest place for her was Grimmauld Place at that time, so she was there as well. Tonks had come to visit her cousin, but even the normally cheerfully metamorphagus was solemn, reflected by the sober black colour of her hair.

It seemed that they should be jubilant, if not for the celebration of the day, but for the Ministry's admittance of Voldemort's return. But even the increased Ministry vigilance could not dispel the feeling of uncertainty that threatened to overwhelm them all. Ron shifted slightly, trying to catch Hermione's eye, but failing drastically.

Suddenly, the grim silence of the room was broken with a familiar popping noise. Immediately everyone looked up and drew their wands, only to holster them again as they saw a now familiar couple appear in the living room. Buffy and Angel looked around and Buffy spoke,

"Hey, you guys don't mind if we come for lunch? We would have called ahead or whatever, but there was Hellmouth stuff to deal with, so we kinda got side-tracked. And we decided that we wanted to spend Christmas with Angel's family, so here we are. Is that cool?"

Mrs Weasley beamed at them and nodded,

"Of course, dear. Do take a seat, both of you, I'll just go set two extra settings at the table."

And with that Mrs Weasley beamed at them both again, glared at Fred and George, who were whispering quietly and drawing on a small bit of paper, and bustled out to the dining room. Angel and Buffy looked around and then curled themselves up on a leather divan, so that Buffy's head was resting against Angel's chest.

After a few minutes Mrs Weasley re-entered the living room and then Buffy whispered something into Angel's ear, who smiled and nodded, and then withdrew and enlarged a black bag from within his duster. Buffy practically beamed with joy and said,

"And now, we have presents!"

Buffy reached down to open the bag, causing a diamond on her right hand to glint in the light. Those who were astute enough to understand this, ie everyone except Ron and also the twins, who had stopped paying attention at the word presents and were now jumping up and down like kangaroos on speed, gasped at the significance of the ring. However, either Buffy and Angel didn't hear their gasps, which, given their preternaturally heightened senses, was unlikely, or chose to ignore them, as neither of them offered any explanation about the ring.

Buffy opened the bag and pulled out the first parcel. She checked the label and then tossed the parcel at Hermione, who grabbed it just in time. The rest of the presents were also distributed in this manner, though neither Ron nor Tonks managed to catch theirs, the reasons for which are obvious. Buffy leant forward, watching them all and said,

"Go on then, none of them are jinxed, except for the twins' of course."

The twins immediately looked at their packages dubiously. Buffy laughed,

"Just kidding. If your parcels were jinxed, you wouldn't be in top condition for my classes next term, and I'd be short two practise dummies."

The twins grimaced, their memories of being used as practise dummies in Buffy's classes all too clear. Madame Pomfrey hadn't been able to get rid of the bruises for hours. And knowing that mediwitch's ability to re-grow bones overnight, that was saying something.

Finally, Fred and George plucked up the courage to open their presents, proving that they were true Gryffindors through and through. They simultaneously tore through a different end of the wrapping on the package. They each held a book, though not of the Hermione or Giles variety. One was a large old-fashioned scrap-book, with the words 'One Hundred Greatest Pranks' emblazoned on the cover. Angel nodded and turned to Fred, whose package it was,

"That's a collection of the best pranks my friends and I did when we were at Hogwarts, they haven't been seen for two hundred and fifty years, it's about time they had another spin."

Fred grinned and George turned eager eyes to his book. It was a black hardback, with red gothic letters on the front spelling out the title; 'Hogwarts: The Unofficial History'. Angel smirked slightly and said,

"That'll tell you things about Hogwarts you wouldn't have been able to learn, even with the map."

The twins glanced at each other and then at their presents and then dashed off into a corner to devise dastardly deads. The others exchanged glances and started ripping the wrapping off their own presents. Mr. Weasley oohed and aahed over his book of weird inventions, while Mrs Weasley admired the beautiful green silk scarf Buffy had chosen for her. Tonks snickered as she read the writing on her new black t-shirt: 'I'm just smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet'. Bill looked more than happy with his new leather duster, though Mrs Weasley did not, and Charlie was looking far too interested in the new daggers that Angel had found for anyone's comfort.

Ginny gave Angel a questioning look as she opened her present to reveal a blank journal bound in emerald green leather with a silver snake clasp. He smiled slightly and said,

"I thought you'd like a journal that didn't talk back."

Ginny smiled and Angel turned his attention to the last four people in the room; his parents two best friends and the two people who had been his best friends lifetimes ago. Hermione opened her package to reveal a beautiful blue pashmina, which was so soft that she gasped to touch it. Angel smiled gently at her and then turned to Sirius and Remus, who had each unwrapped piles of drawings: drawings of Lily and James. Angel spoke softly, his voice filled with old pain,

"I tried to think of something right, but I couldn't think of anything but those."

Remus and Sirius smiled wordlessly at Angel, and both of their eyes were surprisingly bright. Ron looked down at his present, unsure if the vampire would still value him as worth such a meaningful or touching present as the others had received. His breath caught in his throat. Sitting before him was what had to be the most beautiful chess set that he had ever seen in his entire life. He looked up at the smiling vampire,

"You still owe me a game."

It was long and bloody and brutal.

Neither took any prisoners and there was no mercy.

It was chess.

And Ron lost.

"Checkmate."

Ron looked up into the eyes of his opponent, and smiled,

"Bloody hell mate, that was a damned good game."

Mrs Weasley scowled,

"Ronald Weasley, mind your language."

Angel smirked,

"It was my pleasure."

Buffy laughed from where she was curled up, with her head in Angel's lap.

"If you two are quite finished, we should be heading home soon, Cordy and I are looking over some bridal magazines tomorrow."

Angel paled,

"Bridal magazines."

Buffy smiled,

"I didn't know you could pale, Angel. But yes, bridal magazines, it is customary for when one is getting married, you know."

Angel looked almost afraid,

"You're not expecting me to be involved in that?"

Buffy rolled her eyes,

"I love you dearly, but you're a man."

Angel frowned,

"What does that mean?"

Buffy smirked,

"There's a reason women do these things."

Angel sighed in relief,

"Thank the Powers."

Buffy smirked even more,

"Don't thank them yet. Xander has decided to take upon himself the role of organising your stag night."

Angel looked distinctly ill. Buffy laughed,

"It could be worse."

Angel scowled at her,

"How could it possibly be worse?"

Buffy smiled,

"We could have asked Spike to do it."

Angel flinched,

"There is that."

Buffy turned to look at the gawping witches and wizards,

"What? We're getting married."

Before any of them could say anything, Buffy turned back to Angel and said,

"We really have to be going."

Angel nodded and then nodded to the others in the room, Buffy smiled,

"See you in January."

And the two of them disappeared from the room with a familiar crack.

TBC.


End file.
